The Central Railway (CR) had decided to replace eight old foot-over-bridges (FoBs) along its suburban section by constructing new FOBs. These include the famous 'Z' Fob at Matunga. Most of these FoBs have completed their core life.
A tender for the dismantling and re-construction of these FoBs has already been issued last week, which is going to be opened in the second week of September.
As per the plan, the new FoB will be ready within two years of the tendering process being completed. The total cost of dismantling and reconstruction these FoBs has been estimated around Rs 40.5 crore and the project will be funded by the BMC.
“Reconstruction of the public FoB located at the Kalyan end of Masjid station, Bhandari FoB located between CSMT and Masjid station, the public FoB at Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar station, the public FoB between Nahur and Mulund (near Apna Bazar), the Matunga level crossing FoB, Dharavi FoB (located between Matunga and Sion stations) and the Matunga Workshop FoB, also known as 'Z' FoB near Matunga station have been included in this list,” said a CR officer.
The Bhandari FoB was built in 1915 while Kalyan end FoB at Masjid station was built in 1922. The CR also floated a tender for the demolition of the British-era Gunpowder FoB located between Reay Road and Dockyard Road stations on the Harbor Line. The Gunpowder FoB was built in 1923 and is currently used by very few persons due to other bridges near by.
Asked about the present condition of these FoBs, a senior CR official said, “According to the audit report of IIT Bombay, necessary maintenance works at all these structures is already finished in 2019, but most of these FoBs have completed their lifespan.”
Currently, CR's Mumbai Division has 205 FoBs and more than 90 FoBs have been constructed after 2014.
