The operations of the Parel suburban railway terminus are set to start from March 2019, helping commuters take local trains originating from and terminating at the station.

In the last leg of the construction work, the Central Railways (CR) has set December as the internal deadline for completion of the work. Twelve local trains will be operated from the terminus.

“The local train services will start from March 2019. The work is on in fast pace and will be completed by the end of the financial year,” said DK Sharma, general manager, CR.

CR, along with working on a platform for the trains to terminate, has also started preparatory work to shift unused old railway tracks on the west side to expand the width of the slow line platform (currently used only for CSMT-bound trains) by up to 1.5m. “The work will be completed by December. We aim to shift other passenger amenities, including escalators and lifts, before March,” said a senior CR official.

The railway authorities are also looking at options to connect the existing Elphinstone Road bridge with the newly constructed foot overbridges (FOB) at Parel and Prabhadevi stations.

Although unhappy with the delay, passenger associations have welcomed the move. “The work on the terminus has been delayed for a while. The terminus will bring relief to commuters,” said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.

The Parel terminus is part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP 2) and costs ₹51 crore. The plan for a long-distance train terminus at Parel has also been approved by the railway ministry, but the ground work for the project is yet to begin.

First Published: Oct 25, 2018 00:30 IST