RailEnquiry

MUMBAI: Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has drawn up an elaborate plan to revamp Dadar station for faster dispersal of commuters. The plan includes one escalator each at all the platforms and inter-connection of old and new FOBs.An MRVC official said, "The plan includes extending the 12-metre-wide FOB at Dadar station right up the main arterial road (Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road)." There would be one exit at Swaminarayan Temple, too.MRVC came up this plan following a windfall of over Rs 300 crore due to a plummeting rupee, in its World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II. The World Bank disbursement for the project, of $385m or Rs 1,709 crore at the prevailing exchange rate then, has now ballooned to Rs 2,080 crore. The excess amount, therefore, works out to around Rs 371 crore. This, even after taking into consideration the project's cost escalation due to inflation.

The body plans to utilize the surplus funds for the station makeover project. Other than Dadar, the stations lined up for makeover include Andheri, Borivli, Kurla, Virar, Kalyan and Thane.

A senior MRVC official said, "Dadar station has been taken up as the pilot project. We have roped in consultants to prepare the drawings with the projected passenger traffic for 2031. The plan includes building new FOBs, extending and replacing existing FOBs, providing interconnectivity between all the FOBs and installing one escalator each at all the platforms."

If the plan materializes, Dadar will have a total of 18 escalators, including 12 by MRVC. Six escalators had already been approved.

The state government had earlier asked MRVC to prepare a comprehensive plan that would dovetail the requirement of not just the station but also area in the vicinity.

MRVC managing director Rakesh Saksena said, "The project is subject to approval from not only the state government, the railway board and World Bank but also the department of economic affairs."