50 trains to be affected by construction work at LTT

Work will begin from the intervening night of February 11-12 at the LTT Yard from 10.30pm to 3.30am

Mumbai: Close to 50 long-distance trains arriving and departing from the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) will be affected from February 12 to 18, as the Central Railway (CR) begins the work of adding two new platforms.

50 trains to be affected by construction work at LLT

The new platforms, work on which is largely complete, at one of the busiest terminus stations will help in adding 10-14 more trains (5-7 pairs) from LTT to northern and southern India, benefitting people in the coming summer vacations. Currently, there are 5 platforms which see a footfall of 70,000 passengers daily.

After crossing the December 2023 deadline, according to CR officials, the first set of work will begin from the intervening night of February 11-12 at the LTT Yard from 10.30pm to 3.30am. “These works are for enhancing coaching facilities at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, which will continue for the next seven days till February 18. The repercussions on the movement of long-distance trains will be seen from the night of February 12-13,” said a CR official on condition of anonymity.

The good thing is that trains will not be cancelled but will be rescheduled, short-terminated, and short-originated. By doing this, the train timings and the station for its departure and arrival will change until next Sunday. As per the information provided by the CR authorities, a major impact on the movement of long-distance trains will be seen from February 14 onwards, when work will intensify. Trains going to Gorakhpur, Secunderabad, Ayodhya, Darbhanga, Patna, and Coimbatore from LTT will be affected.

“This is mainly for improving the existing infrastructure and more importantly complete works on the two new platforms that are coming up at LTT. We will have to take a continuous block when work on linking the two new platforms with the existing network is done, said a CR official.

On February 9, the general manager of Central Railway, RK Yadav, inspected Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, where he assessed the ongoing station development works. The two new platforms are being built at a cost of ₹64.10 crore and will take the total number of platforms to 7. It will help in accommodating more long-distance trains, its faster dispersal and better passenger management.

At the site, a large island platform is under construction. The skeletal for the roofs are in place with metal poles drilled into the platform, waiting for the cover to be put in place. Space, where tracks will be laid, are levelled, and ready, foot over bridges are constructed.

Currently, there are at least 26 pairs of long-distance trains that arrive and depart from the station. During peak season, the number goes up to 37 pairs. During the holiday season, LTT sees a tremendous number of passengers departing to different parts of the country, especially the northern belt. This will cater to the surge in footfalls during the upcoming summer rush. The construction on the new platforms, located adjacent to platform number five on the west side of the station, was marred by unforeseen technical challenges. Hence, it could not achieve the initial set deadline.