Good news for WR’s 34 lakh commuters Direct connectivity from Mumbai Central, Bandra and Borivli to Konkan Railway, Pune and South India soon

Good news for WR’s 34 lakh commuters

Direct connectivity from Mumbai Central, Bandra and Borivli to Konkan Railway, Pune and South India soon

Finally, the missing links are in place. The Western Railway has taken up a project that will offer its 34 lakh commuters direct connectivity from stations such as Mumbai Central, Bandra and Borivli to Konkan Railway, Pune and South India. Lakhs of commuters along the WR who are forced to go all the way to Dadar, CST or Panvel will soon be able to catch trains from three more stations once the ambitious project is complete.At present, there is no direct access from WR line to Konkan Railway, south India or the Pune line. Trains go up to Vasai and reverse from there to continue the journey. As of Friday, only holiday specials and limited trains were taken by this route. A top official said that the project was under “active consideration” and that a small two-km stretch between the WR’s mainline and the Vasai-Diva line would solve the problem. “Approximately, a chord line between Naigaom and Juchandra stations is all that’ll be required to make this happen,” he said. This will enable WR to run regular trains to south India and Marathwada regions. Sources said there will be no problem in acquiring land or in making any realignments to complete this project fast. “Moreover, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan too is keen to get this done so that it helps lakhs of Konkan Railway commuters can get trains from WR,” he added. “This is a project that we had been fighting for for so long... It is finally going to come to life. To catch any Konkan Railway train or a train to Pune, passengers from Virar, Vasai, Borivli and Bandra have to come down to Dadar or Mumbai CST,” Jagdish B Rane, a commuter activist, who had chalked out an initial survey on this plan, said.