Railways begin groundwork on new FOB at Elphinstone

Mumbai: The Railways has started the construction of a new FOB at Elphinstone Road railway station. The final cost of Rs 10 crore has been sent for approval and it will take a year for the bridge to be completed. The current bridge’s extension will be carried out by the army from November 20 and get completed by January 31.

The bridge is vital as it will be additional breathing space to commuters, who currently travel to corporate offices located outside the station and also use the station as a changing point to Central Railway’s (CR) Parel station.

An official said, “The ground work from the railways has already begun and the work includes marking of the land and also where the foundations of the bridge will be laid.” The official further said, “The bridge has been given a deadline of one year by the union minister Piyush Goyal himself, but we are going to try to beat the deadline as well.”

The Indian Army on the other hand will be helping the much need extensions on the bridge where the stampede occurred on September 29. Another official said, “The army’s role is vital because we will have extra entry and exit point to and from the FOB once they are done with the work.” The official further added, “This means that there would be more avenues for dispersal of crowd, especially in the peak-hours.”

The stampede had taken the lives of 23 commuters on that fateful day. The railways need to improve and fast-track its infrastructure.