A new foot-over bridge, measuring eight-metre-wide and 58-metre-long, has come up at the Western Railway section of the Dadar station. Built with Rs 8 crore, the FOB connects platforms 1,2,3,5 and east skywalk. The connectivity will further be extended to platform 4, meant for fast Churchgate-bound locals, in the next two months.
“Keeping in mind the crowd and width of platform four, we decided to hold the staircase's construction work during monsoon. The work will likely be completed by November end,” said the official from the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) which has built the FOB in a span of less than a year. The construction work started on December 15, 2021.
“This FOB will facilitate passengers to change platforms easily on one of the busiest stations of Mumbai suburban section,” said the WR official, adding that Dadar has eight FOBs and daily caters to over one lakh passengers. The construction of new FOBs not only provides convenience to passengers by easing their entry and exit but also enhances safety. Such efforts go a long way to control the menace of trespassing as well as combat the problems of overcrowding on bridges, the official added.
Welcoming the development, commuter Rajesh Rai said, “It will help in changing platforms, especially during rush hours.” Similarly, another commuter Radha Sen said, “During evening rush hours, walking on the Dadar FOBs isn't easy as most of them are jam-packed. We are hoping that this bridge will share the crowd of other bridges.”
With this new infra, a total of nine FOBs and skywalks have been commissioned in Mumbai's WR suburban section in the current fiscal. Four more FOBs at Khar, Naigaon, Vasai Road and Nalasopara stations are likely to be completed by the end of this financial year.
