Day on, victory for commuters

A day after about 2,000 protesting commuters halted trains at Borivli station for five hours, affecting 80 local services and even some outstation trains, the Western Railway got cracking on building better infrastructure and improving access to the two new platforms, reports Rajendra Aklekar.

A day after about 2,000 protesting commuters halted trains at Borivli station for five hours, affecting 80 local services and even some outstation trains, the Western Railway (WR) got cracking on building better infrastructure and improving access to the two new platforms.

HT Image

In a rare case, the railways within 24 hours issued tenders worth Rs 26 lakh to build an entrance to platform no. 8 at Borivli station from the road overbridge with completion date of two months.

In addition, the WR has decided to keep one 12-coach train as back-up in the nearby yard to attend peak hour cancellations similar to that of Wednesday’s.

Moreover, after a host of meetings with politicians and government officials, local authorities have agreed to change the design of the skywalk that is being built at Borivli and get landings on the Platforms 7 and 8.

In addition, the municipal corporation has decided to widen the road parallel to the platforms, remove all shopkeepers and encroachments on the road and start bus services from the south-end of the station.

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Mohan Rawle met Verma and placed a list of demands. “Commuters at Borivli complain that they do not get place to sit as passengers from Jogeshwari to Kandivli fill up trains that are supposed to start from Borivli and head to Churchgate,” Rawle said.

“Verma has assured that he would convert some Borivli-bound trains into fast ones which will not halt at any stations between Andheri and Borivli to avoid this problem.”

Verma was unavailable for comment.