Last portion of Mumbai's British-era Elphinstone Bridge to come down tonight

The demolition and reconstruction of the portion above the railway premises is being undertaken by the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation

The last portion of the 113-year Elphinstone Bridge will be dismantled tonight, making way for a new east-west link, the 4.5-km-long Sewri-Worli Elevated Corridor executed by MMRDA. The demolition and reconstruction of the portion above the railway premises is being undertaken by the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (MRIDC), a joint venture entity between the Maharashtra government and the central railway ministry.

The 113-year Elphinstone Bridge is being dismantled to make way for a new east-west link, the 4.5-km-long Sewri-Worli Elevated Corridor (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

Demolishing the British-era bridge was necessary for two reasons: one, to raise its height and width, and two, to construct the Sewri-Worli connector which will pass over it. This bridge is a crucial east-west connector that passes over railway tracks near the Prabhadevi and Parel railway stations. The construction of a double-decker bridge is in the works.

Over a week ago, the section passing above the Western Railway lines was removed. On Thursday and Friday nights, the last few sections of the parts crossing the Central Railway tracks will be taken down.

“Special traffic and power blocks for dismantling the panels of the Elphinstone Road overbridge between Parel and Currey Road stations have been issued for Thursday-Friday and Friday-Saturday nights,” said Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer, Central Railway.

The block period will be from 12.30 am to 4.30 am on both nights. On Friday night, the work will affect the running of outstation trains: the Bhubaneshwar New-CSMT Konark Express, Howrah-CSMT Mail and Mangaluru-CSMT Express will be diverted between Matunga and Byculla stations and will have a double halt at Dadar station.

The British-era Elphinstone Bridge closed to vehicular traffic on September 12, 2025, and its approach roads were demolished over a couple of months. Built in 1913 by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, it has been a crucial connection between Parel and Prabhadevi-Worli. The bridge and the railway station were named after Lord Elphinstone, who was then the governor of Madras Presidency.