Sion ROB closure to increase travel time for 200 BEST buses

Some of the routes would have to curtailed, while in some cases, the destination may be changed, said BEST officials

Mumbai: Closure of the 112-year-old Sion road over bridge (ROB) from July 1 will increase the travel time for around 200 BEST buses plying on 23 different routes, affecting nearly 2 lakh commuters in the city, said BEST officials.

The 112-year-old Sion-Dharavi Bridge will be demolished soon to make way for the central railway`s gift and sixth railway line between Kurla and Dadar in order to segregate local train lines from long-distance ones, Mumbai, India. Jan 04, 2023. (Photo by Raju Shhinde/HT Photo)

“Buses plying on these 23 routes would earlier take the Sion ROB. Now, most of them will be diverted via Sulochana Sethi Marg, Dharavi T-junction, Rani Laxmibai Chowk and Kalanagar,” said a BEST spokesperson.

The Sion ROB is a key connector between Dharavi, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and the Eastern Express Highway. The 23 affected routes originate from/ terminate at various parts of the city, including Navy Nagar, Antop Hill, Pratiksha Nagar, Trombay, Santacruz, Bandra, Dindoshi, Juhu, Marol, Vikhroli and Shivaji Nagar. On average, the diversions will add 15-20 minutes to the travel time for each of these routes, which could go up to 90 minutes during peak hours, said BEST officials.

Some of the routes would have to curtailed, while in some cases, the destination may be changed, said BEST officials. Three services bearing numbers C-10, A-25 and 352, connecting Sion with Backbay, Dharavi and Kurla respectively, will be curtailed at Rani Laxmibai Chowk, the noted.

“BEST buses are already delayed and now this diversion will cause further inconvenience. There is a need for BEST to run more buses,” said H Vora, a resident of Sion.

The Sion ROB was closed for heavy vehicles and automobiles higher than 2.8 metres from July 1 based on recommendations of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay), which had labelled the bridge unsafe in 2020. In its report, IIT-Bombay had stated that the reinforced cement concrete deck slab and the parapet wall of the bridge had weakened, and plants and roots had grown on the structure, which was impacting the foundation. The ROB will eventually have to be pulled down to make space for the proposed fifth and sixth rail lines between CSMT and Kurla, and new ROB will be erected in its place with an increased span of 49 metres compared to the current 30 metres.