An Alternate to Elevated Kalva-Airoli Rail Link

  Recently, there was a news regarding a proposed elevated rail link between Kalva-Airoli being approved by the State Govt and being sent to the Railway Board(RB) for inclusion in budgetary approvals by Ministry of Railways. I would like to delve into this proposal and reason out why this link is a costly and unnecessary addition to the Mumbai Suburban Network of Central Railways(CR), when an alternate and cheaper solution is at hand.

CR Local Line (CST-Kalyan) and CR Trans-Harbour Line(THB, Thane-Vashi / Panvel) is set to go AC in the next 2 years. Also on the anvil are the additional 2 lines between Thane(TNA) and Diva Jn(DW) with completion expected by 2016. We can safely believe that CST-Kurla (4 lines), Vidyavihar(VVH) - Kalyan(KYN) (6 lines) will be ready in next 2 years of which TNA-DW ( 4 lines) will pass through Kalva, Mumbra and 2 lines will pass through the long Parsik(PSK) tunnel. After the completion of the additional lines between TNA-DW, all the Mail / Express trains will continue to use the PSK tunnel whereas the slow and fast trains will be routed via Kalva-Mumbra.

Pic Courtesy :Wikimapia.

As we proceed north of TNA, 4 lines will diverge towards Kalva and 4 lines (Mail/ Express lines and THB lines) will further travel further north. Now, as the THB lines divulge towards east (Airoli), there is a single line track which forms a triangle at this juncture which connects the PSK tunnel south exit of the Mail/ Express lines with the THB lines towards Airoli. This single line is in a dilapidated state and is used occasionally by freight trains bound to Turbhe APMC Market. The proposed elevated rail link will have to ramp up a few metres before this triangle and cross the 2 Mail / Express lines by a Rail over Rail bridge (ROR) and then proceed a few kms on an elevated path to cross the 4 CR local lines (TNA-DW) again by an ROR bridge and then drop off the ramp just before the Kalva station and carshed.

In the current context, there are slow trains at a frequency of 4 minutes between TNA-DW/KYN and trains between TNA-Vashi / Panvel at a frequency of 10-12 minutes. Assuming that the relatively empty slot between TNA-Vashi schedule is used to introduce trains between Kalyan(KYN)-Vashi(VSH) / Panvel (PNVL) via the proposed elevated link, where is the time slot to allow these KYN-VSH/PNVL trains to join the lines at Kalwa which already has trains running at a gap of 4 minutes. This link will lead to delays and unnecessary congestion for diversions at Kalva as no additional platforms will be made for these trains and will have to use the same 4 platforms used by TNA-KYN lines. (Please note : During the addition of 2 new lines between TNA-DW, 2 platforms for fast track are being built at Kalva and Mumbra). Building an elevated link will have to displace a lot of slums and rehabilitation of Project Affected Persons (PAP) and clearing some private property of title deeds will be a costly affair and might have to face PILs by PAPs.

I would like to propose a cheaper, easier and faster solution as “doubling” of the single line arm which divulges from the Mail/Express lines at PSK South Exit to connect with the THB lines on the already existing triangle and route the KYN-VSH/PNVL trains via the PSK Tunnel to have its first stop after Airoli at DW, Pf 3 & 4 which can be easily made EMU commuter friendly by raising its height and providing passenger amenities which it is currently devoit of. An additional platform can be made at Kopar between the 5^th and 6^th line to cater to these trains as there is enough space on Kopar East to slew the 6^th track to make way for the new island platform. This new platform can cater to the rush of Dombivli city as Dombivli Railway station cannot be expanded further for new platforms for lack of space. Kalyan has vast tracts of land on its east side which can be used to build an additional island platform 8 and 9 for smoother operation of new trains as well as the Mail/Express trains.

The basic purpose of decongesting TNA is achieved as commuters from Kalva, Mumbra bound to VSH/PNVL will have the option of travelling to DW in a relatively empty local to board trains bound to VSH / PNVL from KYN and beyond. The best part is there are no enchroachments and railways can very well use its land to create these new connections. As the fast train corridor will be free of Mail/ Express trains, more fast trains can be introduced in CR and the KYN-VSH trains can share the 5^th, 6^th lines with Express trains as they will have an expected frequency of 1 train in 15 minutes. Sufficient slack can be provided for KYN-VSH/PNVL trains to ensure there are no inordinate delays because of sharing of lines with Mail/Expresses.

I am told by a few experts that MUTP -2 loans are sanctioned for diversifying the Mail/Express lines from the local lines hence the suggestion provided by me would be deemed to be defeating the purpose but my counter argument to them is where would they fit the KYN-VSH/PNVL locals via the elevated link at Kalva which will be already saturated with the CR mainline trains which are running at 4 min frequency. My suggestion can be easily implemented in 2 years instead of the proposed elevated link. I hope the Railway Board doesnt overlook the plan I suggested.