Title - Lots of elbow room at new Harbour stns - Mumbai Mirror

The city’s rail corporation allowed Mumbai Mirror a glimpse of its vision for the extension of Mumbai’s Harbour line. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which has been working on the Rs 103-crore project since 2011, released the blueprint for stations from Andheri to Goregaon, and plan to complete their transformation by 2014. This is part of the Phase II of the body’s Mumbai Urban Transport Project.

“The stations have been designed so that they have a very modern look, but the main focus was to make them commuter-friendly,” said Ravi Agarwal, chief public relation officer, MRVC. “Architect Ratan Batliboi has gone the extra mile to make sure commuters will not have to struggle to get in and out of stations. These will certainly become models for other stations in the future.”

He added that one of the best aspects of the plan is that platforms will allow commuters to move without bumping into others.

MRVC officials said that the project has been quite a challenge, especially at Andheri, since the tracks at platform numbers 6 and 7 will have to be extended through existing structures like the booking office and the ticketing counter.

While Andheri and Goregaon stations will see major structures added, including a two-storeyed elevated concourse on the western side of the stations, a completely new station for the Harbour line will be constructed at Jogeshwari.

All stations will also have facilities like escalators, elevators and platforms will be connected by foot over bridges.