The civil construction of the long-pending fifth and sixth lines between Thane and Diva is expected to be completed by April, with completion of the rail flyover near Mumbra station.
Railway officials said the steel girders to be used on the flyover were awaiting approvals from the Research Design and Standards Organisation. “The girders are being fabricated in Kota and are expected to arrive in the city within a fortnight,” an official said.
After the civil construction is completed, the Railways will need to work on the yard remodelling at both ends. This will integrate the new lines with the existing ones through a series of nine cuts and connections at 12 locations along the corridor, each of which would require a 10-hour megablock.
Officials said they were already planning on the blocks and should be ready with a schedule around the same time.
The two additional lines are key to reducing the load currently borne by Central Railway (CR), as they will allow segregation of long-distance passenger trains and suburban services between Kurla and Kalyan. The patch between Thane and Diva is a bottleneck at the moment, with six lines each operational between Diva and Kalyan and Thane and Kurla.
The project, which is being executed by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, sanctioned under the second phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP 2) in 2008. It has since been plagued by several delays with the cost of the project has increased from around ₹140 crore to around ₹500 crore.
The two lines are among three pending MUTP 2 projects, and the only one nearing completion. The fifth and sixth line between Kurla and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, being executed by CR, and the sixth line between Mumbai Central and Borivali, being executed by Western Railway, also sanctioned under MUTP 2, are far from completion.