Built to decongest old station bridges, FOBs built by Army have few takers

The deserted new foot overbridge at Elphinstone station on Saturday. (Express Photo by Ganesh Tendulkar)

Written by Anushka Jain and Neha Kulkarni 

MORE THAN two months after three foot overbridges (FOBs) built by the Army were inaugurated at three railway stations, the new FOBs seem to have few takers. Commuters are yet to use these bridges, preferring instead to use the old FOBs. After 23 people were killed in a stampede on the FOB that connects Parel and Elphinstone Road stations on September 29, 2017, the Bombay Engineering Group and Centre or the Bombay Sappers, Pune, was asked to build the three bridges at Parel, Currey Road and Ambivali stations. The bridges, made by the Army within four months and inaugurated on February 27 by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, were built at a cost of Rs 18 crore.

While the FOBs built by the Army were meant to reduce the crowd on the old bridges, that is yet to happen. Tanvi Gosavi, a software professional who commutes between Currey Road and Sion, said, “The bridge has not helped reduce congestion in any way. Even during peak hours, people barely use it. The old bridge connects to a lot of offices, so taking that bridge helps.” Currey Road station has three FOBs, including the one built by the Army. Sonu Jain, a juice stall owner at the station, said he often guides commuters towards the Army bridge to ensure more people use it. “I have realised people do not know about the bridge or where it ends. But when commuters are confused over how to reach Lalbaug from the station, I recommend them to use the bridge. The bridge may become popular during the Ganapati festival as it leads you right into Ganesh Gully, where most Ganesh pandals are,” he said.

At Ambivali station, the bridge built by the Army is the second one at the station that connects east to the west. Rupesh Yadav, who travels daily between Ambivali and Dombivali stations, said, “After 7 pm, many college students could be seen crossing the tracks to go to the other side. However, senior citizens and women use the bridge as it is more comfortable.” Another regular commuter Rajendra Yadav, who travels daily to Kalyan from Ambivali railway station, said, “The bridge has brought the station closer to the Baneli area. It has cut five minutes of commuting time. Before the bridge was constructed, one had to take a round of the entire station and reach the other platform to take a rickshaw. We don’t do that now.”

While the crowd on the bridge built by the Army at Parel station remains thin, commuters said the new bridge had helped cut commuting time. Santosh Shinde, who has been travelling between Thane and Parel daily for the last eight years said, “The existing bridge at Parel which connects with Elphinstone Road sees a huge rush during peak hours. We have to wait for at least 10 minutes for the crowd to reduce on the bridge. We prefer to use the Army bridge in the north as it saves my commute time.”

The bridge, however, remains popular among flower vendors as it connects the station to the flower market. However, as the Army bridge at Parel does not connect to Elphinstone Road station, commuters said it is of little use to them. The Railways are constructing a second bridge at Parel station to be connected to Elphinstone Road, which is scheduled to be ready by June-end. “The bridges will slowly become popular among commuters. We are building another bridge at Parel station linking Elphinstone Road station. We cannot connect the two bridges at Currey Road station as that allows passengers who are not commuters to enter the station,” a senior Railways official said.