Railways, state agree to build more bridges

It appears that the growing synergy between the Central Railway and state government would help save thousands of death on city's level crossings and improve train punctuality.

It appears that the growing synergy between the Central Railway and state government would help save thousands of death on city's level crossings and improve train punctuality.

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Central Railway said on Friday the state had reacted positively to the request of to construct flyovers at six various level crossings along their lines to cut down trespassing and improve train punctuality. “We informed the state in this regard in October after studying the six sites. The state government has shown a positive response and we are in continuous touch with them," said Central Railway chief spokesperson SC Mudgerikar.

The six proposed sites are at Kurla, Sewri, Diva, Nerul, Ambivli and Lonavla. State government had blamed the railways for deaths on tracks on Sunday because of lack of bridge over the level crossing tracks.

Railways has done a thorough study of train vehicle units, which is calculated by multiplying the number of trains to the number of road vehicles. “We have recommended that the state government should share 50% of the construction cost. At Vikhroli, a bridge had been proposed as far as 1997 and we approved 50% money for it,” said Mudgerikar. A foot overbridge willl be built at the site, work for which will begin in January.