Western Railway to build four new platforms at Borivali, Andheri and Virar to ease crowding
Two platforms will come up at Borivali and one each at Andheri and Virar, which could clear the way for 30 to 40 more locals to Virar.
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Four new platforms will be built at Borivali, Andheri and Virar stations to reduce growing crowding and traffic pressure on Western Railway. Two of the platforms will come up at Borivali, while Andheri and Virar will get one each.
The works will make railway operations more flexible. As a result, the way is likely to open for starting 30 to 40 additional local services up to Virar.
Work on the Borivali-Virar fifth and sixth lines is under way. As part of it, a new platform will be built at Borivali. In addition, another platform will be built on the southern side of the station for the extension of the Harbour route. Both platforms will be about 330 metres long and seven metres wide.
At Virar too, an additional platform will be built under the fifth and sixth line project. The new platform is expected to reduce crowding on the foot overbridge and ease the pressure on passengers climbing up and down the stairs.
Once the fifth and sixth lines are operational, suburban locals and long-distance trains can be handled separately. This will reduce bottlenecks on train paths and provide the facilities needed to run more locals.
After the new platforms and the fifth and sixth lines are ready, Western Railway will have more scope to increase the number of local services. When the work is complete, operational requirements will be reviewed, and the additional services up to Virar will then be planned. This is expected to lead to about 30 to 40 additional locals.
Andheri station handles about 450,000 passengers a day, and more than 1,000 suburban trains pass through it. To reduce crowding at the station, the expansion here will be carried out in two phases.
In the first phase, work to extend platforms 4 and 5 to the south has begun. This will make it easier to divert trains from platform 5 towards Virar. Platforms 6 and 7 will be extended by 20 metres to the south and 10 metres to the north. Signal S-49 will also be shifted to the south.
In the second phase, a new 12-coach home platform will be built on the northern side of the station, adjoining the sixth line. Passengers will be able to exit from both sides of this platform. Passengers alighting at platform 9 will therefore be able to go straight out to the Andheri East road side as well.
At present, after a train arrives at platform 9, passengers mainly have to use the foot overbridge and narrow stairs. This causes heavy congestion there at peak hours.
