The work of modernisation of Thane railway station will be undertaken through the railway administration. In order to decide the direction of the implementation, the railway officials and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) commissioner Abhijit Bangar had a joint meeting recently.
During the meeting the TMC chief Bangar said that the involvement of the Thane civic body is important in the work being undertaken with the aim of providing up-to-date service facilities along with reducing the congestion of passengers in Thane Railway Station.
The commissioner also gave instructions that the movement of passengers in the railway station area should be made easier and measures should be taken to speed up the traffic.
During the meeting TMC chief Abhijit Bangar, and on behalf of the railway administration, chief project officer Ashok Mishra and municipal corporation project officer Praveen Papalkar and others were present.
What will railways do and its usefulness
Thane railway station is historically important and the busiest station. 6.5 lakh passengers travel daily as long-distance trains along with suburban trains also stop at large scale. As of now there are more than one thousand cars which are parked outside the Thane station and the reason is that a grand deck connecting East-West will be constructed on the existing 11 platforms.
Due to this deck, the safety of the passengers will also be maintained along with reducing the crowd. On this deck, necessary services like waiting room, ticket office, toilet etc. will be available for the passengers. The said deck will be connected to the Satis project in Thane West and East. Also, construction of multi-storied parking plaza for two and four-wheeler vehicles, three to four commercial buildings will be done by the railway in the outer lateral space under the jurisdiction of the railway.
Architectural museum giving historical information of the station
The first railway in the country ran between Bori Bandar and Thane on 16th April 1853. A replica of the train that ran on coal and the information about its history will be set up at an architectural museum at Thane station.
Measures for Congestion Outside Railway Stations
Abhijit Bangar during the meeting mentioned that "30 percent of the passengers in Thane exit from the railway station in the east and 70 percent in the west. Gokhale Road and Shivaji Path in the west of Thane are crowded with citizens. At present, additional passenger pressure is coming from the western side due to the ongoing work of Satis at Thane East.
Bangar further added, the work of the bridge at Thane East is in the final stage and the work of this bridge will be completed in the next 8 to 10 months. Along with this, there is a proposal for a bus terminus in the east. According to this, after the completion of the bridge and the bus terminus, the traffic in the east will also be facilitated."
A preliminary level discussion was held, and the policy should be finalized by organizing a further meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of Transport and again a meeting with the Thane civic body chief Abhijit Bangar and a report of the same should be submitted to Bangar was decided in the meeting.
