CR plans to increase capacity on Karjat, Kasara routes by 25%

The move comes just two days after railway passenger associations held a joint meeting with CR authorities demanding an increase in suburban services on the Thane to Karjat and Kasara routes

Mumbai: In what will come as a major relief for rail commuters living in the central suburbs beyond Thane, the Central Railway (CR) is planning to augment services on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Kasara and Karjat routes by 25%. The augmentation will be undertaken by converting 12-coach trains into 15-coach ones, and plans for extending or adding new platforms to facilitate the change are already underway, said officials. The move comes just two days after railway passenger associations held a joint meeting with CR authorities demanding an increase in suburban services on the Thane to Karjat and Kasara routes.

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Sources in CR said three main works are underway to enhance the carrying capacity of suburban locals on the CSMT to Karjat/ Kasara routes – creation of additional space/ platforms on the fast line, on the slow line between Thane and Kalyan, and for stabling or parking of trains.

Efforts are underway to create space to accommodate 15-car trains at platforms numbers five and six at CSMT which cater to fast locals, said CR officials. “There is an old structure that will be demolished to extend the two platforms,” said a senior CR official. Additionally, surveys are underway to add two railway lines between Kalyan and Badlapur on the Karjat route, and Kalyan and Asangaon on the Kasara route, which have been approved by the rail ministry under the MUTP. This would require the shifting of signal poles and points on tracks used to switch lines, among other things.

As regards the slow line between Thane and Kalyan, efforts are being made to extend existing platforms to accommodate 15-car trains, said CR officials. But the chances of this happening are rare as the network in this stretch is quite complex and there is little space available for shifting existing infrastructure.

CR has also begun identifying space for stabling or parking 15-car trains in preparation for capacity augmentation. Such space may be found between the Kalyan to Badlapur and Kalyan to Asangaon stretches, where there is a possibility of acquiring land.

“We had demanded at least 20 services from Thane to Karjat and Kasara during peak hours. These steps will bring lot of respite,” said Nandkumar Deshmukh from the Federation of Suburban Railway Passengers Association. But CR authorities said passenger associations are making these demands despite a considerable drop in daily footfalls over the past 3-4 years.