RailEnquiry

A barter agreement between the Western Railway (WR) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over land on the north-eastern fringes of Borivli station could emerge as a huge relief for lakhs of commuters who travel from beyond Borivli towards Churchgate.WR requires a plot of land no wider than 6 metres and around 24 metres long to align its tracks such that long-distance and suburban trains coming from the Virar-end don’t need to wait at the northern end of Borivli before being allotted a platform to enter.Speaking to dna, divisional railway manager (Mumbai Central) Shailendra Kumar said that an agreement has been worked out under which the BMC will give WR the plot and, in turn, the WR, too, will give BMC a plot of land close by so that the latter can widen the road running along the east of Borivli station.“It is a win-win situation. For commuters, too, it’s a relief as we will be able to streamline train-running in the northern tip of Borivli and save considerable time,” said Kumar.A lot of long-distance trains headed to Mumbai Central enter city in the morning, which is rush hour for suburban trains. With many of these trains having 24 coaches, the wait for trains to be allotted a platform could be as high as seven to 10 minutes. A seven-minute delay during rush hour means anywhere between two and three trains getting delayed, the cascading effect delaying another 10-odd suburban trains.

According to the plan prepared by WR’s Mumbai division, if they get the plot of land running along MG Road adjoining the railway boundary on the north-east of Borivli station, track number 6 which currently ends hundred metres north of Borivli can be extended and given a connection called a ‘crossover’ in railway lingo with track number 5, which is the line used by ‘fast’ trains coming into Borivli station from the Virar-end. Farther north, line 5 has a connector with line 3 used by slow trains coming from Virar.