Mumbai: Commuters travelling on Central Railways will breathe a sigh of relief as soon they will be able to take trains which will be originating at Parel station. Senior Railway official said they have reduced the deadline for completion of Parel terminus to December 2018 from March 2019.
This move comes after when railway official noticed that the number of commuters travelling on Parel-Prabhadevi sections is increasing day-by-day resulting the decision of reducing the deadline by three months was taken in the recent joint meeting. “As Parel-Prabhadevi has become corporate hub, the number of commuters using Parel-Prabhadevi stations has increased significantly. This decision was taken in the joint meeting which took place recently” added the official.
“The project was to be completed by March 2019, but now the deadline has been revised and only a couple of projects can be completed before the Lok Sabha elections and Parel terminus is one of it,” said an official. A senior official said that in order to ease the pressure off Dadar station, CR will start trains towards the north (Thane or Kalyan) from Parel which is the part of the plan. The terminus will come up on platform number one, which handled Kalyan-bound trains until the new platform was built.
Also, CR will build two lines on the north end of the station, where the trains will be parked. The authorities have started to shift unused old railway tracks towards the west, ahead of the expansion of the slow line platform. The construction of dead-end for the terminus on platform number one is also on.
The project, estimated to cost Rs 51 crore, was announced under the second phase of the ambitious Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-2). The Central Railway had in 2015 formally announced the Parel local train Terminus railway project and work had been in progress when the Elphinstone stampede happened.
