Thursday, Jun 27, 2013
Mumbai
The first escalator in Mumbai’s suburban rail network was inaugurated at Thane, a key station of Mumbai Division on Central Railway (CR).
After initial hiccups of not working properly, the escalator was inaugurated by Guardian Minister of Thane, Ganesh Naik, in the presence of various dignitaries and rail officials amidst much excitement among the travelling public.
Thane handles approximately 630,000 passengers daily and has 10 platforms, out of which platforms 1 to 6 are meant for Main Line suburban trains, platforms 9 and 10 for transharbour lines and platforms 5, 6, 7, and 8 catering to long distance trains. With 17 booking windows and 24 automatic ticket vending machines, Thane is one of the busiest and most crowded stations of Mumbai.
While future plans of CR include providing two more escalators at Thane, two in Dombivili, two in Kalyan, two in Dadar and one in Vikhroli, most passengers feel that such improvements could be carried out at a faster pace.
Thane gets the priority with a provision for four escalators to connect with the newly constructed foot over bridge from where all platforms can be accessed. Further improvements include provision of multi-level car parking stilt plus two levels after relocating the railway offices on the west side of platform number 1. What would be welcome is the construction deluxe toilets on a build, operate and transfer basis and putting up fences between two tracks and a boundary wall to control trespassers.
By Pamela Raghunath Correspondent
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
