Title - 3 revamped stations on Western line

Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials said more than half of the work on Andheri, Jogeshwari and Goregaon railway stations’ makeover project has been completed and commuters can look forward to the March 2014 deadline to avail the facilities of the three new stations.
In order to extend the Harbour line to Goregaon, which terminate at Andheri station, a major remodeling work is being carried out at the stations. MRVC is carrying out the work under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-II at a budget of Rs103 crore.
The booking offices at Andheri station have been demolished and a temporary arrangement has been made for the counters. Platform nos 6 and 7 of the station, currently used for Harbour line services, will be demolished. A new home platform is being built at the north end of the existing location to align it with other platforms. However, the station will still retain all nine platforms.
“We had planned things in such a way so that the rains don’t hamper our work. Almost 60 per cent of the work has been completed in terms of extension of the Harbour line and other things,” said Prabhat Ranjan, chief PRO, MRVC.
However, construction of the Oshiwara station will take some time. “We don’t see that happening before mid 2014. The BMC has to construct the road overbridge, which is not possible soon,” said Ranjan.
Work on the Oshiwara station was stopped in between as residents opposed the shutdown of the level crossing, which connected the east and the west sides of the suburbs. As a result, work got delayed.
On the other hand, WR has completed the construction of an elevated deck, measuring 400 metre in length and five metre in width. It will be connected to the foot overbridge (FoB). So, passengers alighting from autorickshaws and elevators can directly descend on the deck. All stations will be connected through the FoB. The new station building has already come up, which will house the reservation office and food plaza.
“The deck will reduce ground congestion. Ninety per cent of the work has been completed. The rest is expected to be completed in a month,” said Nitin David, PRO of WR. “The escalator will be also installed soon,” he promised.
Commuters, too, are looking forward to next March. “We are awaiting the revamp as commuting will become easier,” said Srija Bose, who commutes to south Mumbai from Goregaon for work.