British-era Kalyan railway station set for a ₹900-crore makeover

Central Railway (CR) is planning to upgrade the 169-year-old Kalyan railway station in Mumbai, India with a long-distance train terminus and other facilities. The upgrade, estimated to cost ₹900 crore ($121m), will help segregate tracks for suburban local trains and express trains, improving punctuality and reducing inconvenience for passengers. The project is expected to be completed by 2025-26. The redevelopment will also include a railway office building, retail and commercial buildings, and a multi-level car parking.

Strap: CR plans to build a long-distance train terminus inside goods yard and segregate tracks

Kalyan India - September 29 2023 Pics.For the first time since 1854 Kalyan station will undergo an upgrade. A long-distance train terminal has been planned on the east at a cost of ₹900 crore which will segregate the existing system where suburban local trains and long-distance trains share platforms. Moreover, this suburban station will also see a transformation as another plan is in the making for its overhaul. September 29 2023.Pramod Tambe /HT . in India 29 2023 (Photo by Pramod Tambe HT)

The Central Railway (CR) has drawn up plans to upgrade the 169-year-old Kalyan railway station with a long-distance train terminus and other facilities at an estimated cost of ₹900 crore. The terminus will help do away with the existing system where suburban local trains and express trains share tracks, people familiar with the matter said and added that the tentative deadline of completion is 2025-26.

More than 850 trains chug out of Kalyan station every day, connecting Mumbai with cities such as Nashik and Pune. However, ever since the station was set up in 1854, the tracks have not been entirely segregated for long-distance and local trains. This in turn affects the trains’ punctuality, bringing inconvenience to passengers.

Now, CR officials are planning to uproot some of the 32 rail lines inside the goods yard, which is situated to the east of the station, to make way for the terminus, a railway office building, retail and commercial buildings, and a multi-level car parking.

“We will clear this entire yard on the east side of this British-era railway station. We shall retain 12 tracks for goods trains and convert six others with equal number of platforms for the terminus,” a CR official said.

Sources said since there is little connectivity outside the station on the east side, they are working on how to ease passengers’ movement coming from the west and even suburban platforms. The station area development will include an upper deck with elevated roads connecting the station from different locations.

“We are working on multiple options for passengers to reach the proposed terminus comfortably once it is ready. For example, passengers coming by road should be able to take a travelator on an FOB that connects the suburban platforms to a ROB leading to the terminus,” another CR official said.

Earlier this month, Naresh Lalwani. general manager of CR, inspected Kalyan station and took stock of the proposed terminus, works of segregation of tracks, and separation of lines for trains going to Kasara and Karjat.

According to Shivraj Manaspure, CR’s chief public relations officer, new platforms will be constructed in the goods yard for segregation of mail/express and local trains. “The contract for track-related works has been awarded and dismantling is in progress. Contracts for earthwork, minor bridges and miscellaneous civil works have been awarded too.”

The multi-level parking can accommodate more than 2,500 two-wheelers and four-wheelers. As per the rough estimates, the makeover of Kalyan station will be designed to accommodate more than 5.65 lakh passengers a day against the current capacity of 3.72 lakh passengers.

P V Anand, secretary, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sanghatana and resident of Kalyan, said, “It will be a great move if they can separate the suburban rail corridor from the long-distance trains’, an issue we have been raising for a long time. The railway should also upgrade amenities for passengers and free up spaces at the station.”

Officials said the redeveloped space will allow them to construct more waiting halls with a seating capacity for nearly 6,000 passengers while the existing ones cater to only 300 passengers. The roofs will be see-through for better aesthetics and ventilation. The work on fifth and sixth rail lines at Kalyan has already smoothened the services on the LTT-Kalyan route, they said.

Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of Federation of Suburban Railway Passengers Association, said, “We have asked the railway to ensure that they add new services once the remodelling of goods yard is complete. They have assured us that rail lines and platforms for Karjat-bound trains and those for Kasara will be segregated which will tremendously help improve train services and reduce the waiting time.”

Meanwhile, railway officials said redevelopment of the suburban node is in the design stage.