Platform Roof Covers For 15-Car Rakes, Reconstruction Of Age-Old Fobs Are Some Of Them
Mumbai : The Rail Budget may have brought no relief for commuters in terms of new suburban services, but they will certainly have improved facilities at railway stations, as nearly Rs 28 crore have been sanctioned for the same, which includes roof covers over platforms and the replacement of dilapidated Foot Overbridges (FOBs).
The platforms for long distance trains at CST will also be extended to accommodate 24- to 26-coach trains.
Roof covers will be provided over platforms running 15-car locals at seven stations on Central Railway (CR), which have halts for fast trains. The seven stations include CST, Byculla, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Mulund and Dombivli, which will get roof covers within a year, at a cost of Rs 5 crore.
The CR General Manager during a press conference on Thursday said, “We run about eight services with 15-car rakes. When we have new rakes, all 12-car trains will be converted to 15-cars.”
The capacity of CST will also be increased to accommodate long distance trains with 24 to 26 coaches. A total of Rs 57 crore has been sanctioned for the extension of Platform Nos. 11, 12 and 13 to handle these extra coaches. The extension of the platforms will enable the authorities to increase the capacity of the highly patronised trains such as Deccan Queen, Pushpak Express and others. In his budget speech, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that for highly patronised trains, these additional coaches will become a permanent feature, the coaches being taken from those trains which are less popular.
A CR official said, “Short platforms at CST have been one of our biggest problems, as despite the availability of coaches and demand, we were not able to run trains with more coaches.”
The railway budget has also made provisions for replacement of FOBs across seven other railway stations, including Masjid, Dadar, Sewri, Bhandup, Mumbra, Diva and Asangaon. An official from CR said, “The bridges which have completed their age limit will be broken down and new bridges will be constructed for the convenience of the commuters.”
Chief PRO of CR, Narendra Patil said, “In an attempt to improve public amenities, in this budget Rs 130 crore has been granted for these works as against Rs 74 crore which was granted last year.”
