Central Railway to increase height of Harbour, mainline platforms

The Central Railway (CR) is set to raise the height of the platforms on the Harbour and the mainline’s slow corridor, making them more accessible to the specially-abled. The railways used these slow lines as a backup to run outstation trains, in case of emergencies and could not raise the platforms due to low stairs of the same.

The CR used to divert trains from the fast track to the slow corridor on the mainline and the Harbour, in case emergencies if the former line is paralysed in a major disruption. Due to low stairs of the outstation trains the platform height had been kept unchanged but this caused a huge gap between the footboard of a local train and the platform. In fact, it is one of the reasons that caused several of the accidents where commuters have fallen into the gap.

CR general manager Sunil Kumar Sood made the announcement on Sunday at the dedication of the Harbour lines conversion from Direct Current (DC) to Alternate Current (AC) as well as the introduction of 12-coach trains at Bandra. “The tender the Parel terminus as well as the 5th and 6th line has been awarded and work will begin on Monday. This will be a boon since we raise the platforms on our slow track on the mainline and the Harbour. This will allow to raise height of the platforms parallel to the footboard of the local trains making it easy for the people, especially the especially-abled who use wheel chairs to board the train with little effort,” said Mr Sood.

Speaking about the construction of the Parel Terminus Mr Sood added, “We could give tenders and start construction for the terminus and the 5th and 6th line because the government has designated these powers to a division-level which means we do not have to wait for the approval by the railway ministry in Delhi.”