Thane station to get 3 FOBs

Commuters travelling from Thane station may have a smooth ride if the Central Railway (CR) implements its plan to make the station ‘world class’.

Commuters travelling from Thane station may have a smooth ride if the Central Railway (CR) implements its plan to make the station ‘world class’.

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CR will start with constructing three Foot Over Bridges (FOB) and improving platforms.

“There are only two FOBs currently which get congested in peak hours. They’re also old and narrow,” said Kalpesh Savardekar, a media professional and resident of Thane.

In the railway budget of the year 2010-11, it was announced that Thane would be developed as a world class station. Thane station is also the most crowded station in the CR with statistics showing that 8.7 crore people boarded the train from Thane in 2010-11. The CR has planned to build three FOBs, one will be positioned at the centre of the station, another FOB at the Kalyan end of the station a third at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) end. “We have requested the Thane Municipal Corporation to fund the FOB on the CST end,” said a CR official, requesting anonymity. Currently, CR has received around Rs6.5 crore to start the construction of the work.

Meanwhile, to accommodate long route trains that are of 24 coaches, some of the platforms will be extended. “The first phase of redevelopment also includes four ticket booking offices on the station area at the western side, and systematic implementation of the pay-and-park facility. The funds for these are not yet decided,” said a CR official.

According to sources, the beautification of the station area is also in the plan. “ Beautification from the outside as well as the resurfacing of the platforms, as well as replacing roofs will be considered in the second phase of the plan, said a CR official.