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 5th and 6th line
to cater to these trains as there is enough space on Kopar East to
slew the 6th 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 5th,
6th 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.
Too good. Share this with CR G.M. office.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing in. Unfortunately, I have no contacts who could help me pass on this suggestion to the GM's office , hence posted in a blogger forum so that someone who does have the contacts may help in passing on the suggestion to higher ups.
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, have you considered going the RTI way to voice your idea, http://rti.railnet.gov.in/
ReplyDelete