Mumbai: Ten locals to and from Parel by March-end

MUMBAI: To provide rush hour relief to thousands of office-goers, five pairs of Central Railway suburban trains may originate and terminate at Parel terminus when it becomes operational by March-end 2019.



This is the first time in 32 years that a train will originate and terminate at a new station after Dadar, which started in 1985. CR officials say the move is aimed at easing congestion at Dadar and bringing relief to busy stations like Currey Road where the number of passengers has increased with former mill land turning into a sought-after business district. On an average, 1.02 lakh passengers buy tickets at Elphinstone Road-Parel.

Work on the Parel terminus is on in full swing and is expected to completed by January-February. A senior CR official said, "We will have to begin preparations for train operations from this station. We are planning to operate five pairs of trains from this station on the slow corridor."

The official said, "There may not be any increase in the number of services; we will have to curtail two services from CSMT and run them from Parel during the morning and evening peak hours."

Emergence of satellite townships and business hubs in suburbs has altered Mumbai's conventional north-south commuting pattern. The local train ticket sales at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) has dropped almost 30% over the last five years. In 2012-13 CSMT sold more than 2 lakh tickets per day.

However, the number reduced to 1.44 lakh by 2017-18.

Experts say the CSMT ticket sales figures confirmed the south Mumbai business district of Fort, Nariman Point and Ballard Estate is gradually ceding space to areas like Parel-Elphinstone Road, Currey Road, BKC and Andheri Kurla Road.

Around 3 to 3.5 lakh people work in corporate offices that have come up on the mill land in the area. Also, a large number of commuters alight at these stations to travel to KEM, Tata Memorial and Wadia hospitals. A significant number of people using these stations are also employed in Central Railway's Parel workshop.

Parel Terminus is part of the fifth and sixth lines project funded under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-II. The project is crucial to decongest Dadar station, besides helping CR manage a crisis in case of disruption of services between Parel and CSMT.