Western Railway's two termini - Bandra and Mumbai Central - might soon need a helping hand. The railway authorities believe that the two termini is likely to get saturated in the next 10 years and would require WR to have a third terminus for its long-distance train operations.
Speaking on the issue during a media interaction, Hemant Kumar, GM, WR, agreed as much. "This city will need another terminus because our operations are increasing every passing year and Bandra terminus and Mumbai Central, will soon get saturated," said Kumar.
Kumar said that while the vast land parcel required for such a terminus would obviously mean it will have to be in the northern parts of the city, he refused to give any specific location for it. "We need to carry out studies to find a plot large enough for a terminus," said Kumar.
dna in its October 30, 2013 edition, had an article on how WR officials had asked Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to study the feasibility of a massive terminal at Vasai, which would have the facilities for suburban trains, long-distance trains as well as a maintenance depot for these trains.
WR's operations department chief RK Tandon, had at that time written to MRVC managing director Rakesh Saksena, saying there is a need for a terminal, since the two currently operational - Mumbai Central and Bandra - are getting saturated. The letter states WR needs a base in the northern fringes of Mumbai. The terminal can also be used to run trains to the south from WR on the existing Vasai-Diva line, which connects WR to CR and allows trains to go from north to south of India and vice versa.
The terminal would also come in handy to start suburban trains to Borivli and Andheri, on the south and Dahanu on the north, as the stretch is seeing an explosive population and commuter growth, said officials. It would allow people to alight from long-distance trains and then make their suburban commute seamlessly, said WR officials.
However, any movement on this issue has been slow since then though officials agreed that if WR wanted a terminus by the middle of the next decade, work should ideally begin now. "The work will require hundreds of acres of land and several hundred crore rupees. Since building a terminal takes anywhere close to or even over a decade, it is best that work on its feasibility starts now," said a senior WR official.
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