RailEnquiry

The master plan of a city-based engineer to decongest south Mumbai by creating a network of elevated and underground railway tracks has got a probable push.Therailway board has approved a technical study of the plan and asking the local railways to look into its feasibility.In his plan, Ketan Goradia has proposed an arc network by connecting the Western Railway with Central Railway to increase access to south Mumbai. This Churchgate-Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus network will eventually create two fast dedicated tracks — one running clockwise and the other anti- clockwise between Virar and Kalyan.“We met railway board member (traffic) KK Shrivastava and AP Mishra (member, engineering) on May 16. Theyhave now asked us to meet the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation officials next week,” said Goradia.DNA had reported on his plan in April.“Last month we met deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and guardian minister Jayant Patil. Theyexamined the plan and have asked the chief secretary to give a feedback,’’ he said.“The plan involves getting commuters from Churchgate who want to go to the eastern parts of south Mumbai, such asBallard Pier or Fort, to Masjid Bunder station, which iscloser for these areas,’’ Goradia said.In addition to the Churchgate-Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus connectivity, the plan also includes a harbour line circular railway. It also proposes accommodating fast and slow trains running in the same direction on either side of a platform.“This project would cost much less than the elevated railway project. It can increase the carrying capacity of the existing system by 100%and be completed much earlier too,’’ Goradia claimed.