New staircase at Prabhadevi station opened to commuters after 80-day build

A new staircase built on the western side of the southern foot overbridge (FOB) at Prabhadevi railway station has been completed and opened to passengers, according to an official statement issued on Sunday. The station is in central Mumbai.

The staircase is expected to make it easier for rail commuters in Mumbai to get to and from the platform and to reduce delays during peak hours. Officials said the additional access route should ease crowding at the station and add to passengers' convenience.

The staircase was built within 80 days of receiving the required no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). In other words, the work was finished in the 80 days counted from the time permission was in hand.

According to the railway, construction began only after the municipal toilet at the site was demolished. The additional staircase then came up within the set deadline.

The new facility will make entering and exiting the station smoother, especially at peak hours. The railway said movement of passengers at Prabhadevi station would improve overall.

The work was not easy. The project faced several challenges, including a lack of space, limited working hours and various utility lines underground.

The construction site lay between a road on one side and the railway tracks on the other. There was therefore very little room for the work itself, for the movement of machinery and for storing material.

Officials said night construction was not permitted because of residential buildings in the vicinity. All the work therefore had to be done within limited daytime hours, the statement said.

Several electrical and other utility lines running underground also posed a problem. They had to be carefully located and protected so that they were not damaged and services were not disrupted. Old water supply lines were also an obstruction, and extra precautions had to be taken to protect them and coordinate with the concerned agencies.

Despite these constraints, the project was completed within the set deadline of 80 days because of careful planning, coordination and the sustained efforts of railway officials and the agency carrying out the work, the statement said.

Officials said the movement of passengers at Prabhadevi station would become smoother with the additional staircase, bringing major relief from crowding.