Don’t expect smooth Mumbai commute soon: 17 years on, FOB at Kurla station is yet to be built

There is currently only one end-to-end bridge at Mumbai’s Kurla station, which works as an east-to-west connector for lakhs of pedestrians

Following the stampede at Elphinstone Road station in September, a temporary foot overbridge (FOB) will soon be constructed there. However, an FOB at Kurla station — one of the city’s busiest — has been in the planning stage since 2000.

Kurla station is one of the city’s busiest. (HT File)

The FOB was planned keeping in mind the expected increase in the footfall at the station. The civic body had paid the Railways Rs4.22 crore to construct it.

There is currently only one end-to-end bridge at Kurla station, which works as an east-to-west connector for lakhs of pedestrians.

Kurla station is also a connecting point for the suburban railway’s central and harbour lines.

“The bridge was planned given the boom in construction activities in and around Kurla station and the subsequent increase in passenger footfall. However, in all this time, we have not received any positive response from the railway authorities,” said a civic official, who did not wish to be identified.

Senior railway officials said they are in the process of finalising designs and the construction of the bridge will start soon. “The FOB is part of the Kurla station yard remodelling. It linked to the fifth and sixth line between Kurla and Parel,” said SK Jain, divisional railway manager, Central Railway.

This is not the only project that both the authorities have not been able to see eye-to-eye over.

The most recent project over which a conflict arose was the construction of the Hancock Bridge at Byculla.

In its response to a public interest litigation (PIL), the Bombay high court asked the Central Railway and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to come up with a solution and construct the FOB as soon as possible.

The BMC told the court that while it was “ready to fund the construction of a new FOB and provide the land for it, the Railways was still reluctant to take up construction work”.