Parel terminus plan gets Rs. 25 crore, work to begin early 2016.

Thousands of commuters using Parel station — with narrow platforms and a creaky overcrowded foot overbridge — have some good news coming their way.

Central Railway issued work orders worth Rs25 crore to build a terminus at Parel. The tender for this work will be opened on November 24 and physical construction at the station could begin by early next year, said CR officials.

The total cost estimate of creating a suburban terminus at Parel is in the region of Rs60 crore and apart from the above Rs25 crore allotted for civil works, there is another Rs25 crore that will be used to buy equipment for the Route Relay Interlocking mechanism of the terminus. The construction of the Route Relay Interlocking — the mechanism that controls all aspects of train movement over a particular stretch — cabin for the terminus has already begun in the south-east tip of Carol Bridge that connects Parel East to Elphinstone West.

Another Rs. 10 crore would be for various amenities as well as removing lots of electrical and signalling structures that goes defunct when stations are given such an all-round overhaul.

The work is long overdue if commuter sentiment is anything to go by, agreed CR officials. Parel, once a station tending to the mill workforce, the KEM and Tata Memorial hospitals and the railway establishments to the east of the tracks, is now one of the city's worst commuting points. During evening rush hour, authorities have to place Railway Protection Force personnel to man the crowds on the south-end bridge. Women commuters are an especially harried lot as unsavoury elements are known to take advantage of the crowding on the steps leading to the bridge to inappropriately touch women commuters.

The project, after being given the green signal by former railway minister Sadananda Gowda on September 8 last year, went into cold storage soon after, only to be revived a few months ago.

The terminus plan
The goods line on the western side of line number one, which is used currently by trains moving towards Dadar, will be uprooted.

A 408-metre platform will be built in its place and then the goods line beside it will be made line number one, to be used by trains moving towards Dadar.

The current line number 1 will be cut off towards the south and made a terminal line from where trains will start and end at Parel station.

The line will have a connector to the slow line that goes towards Dadar and also to the slow line coming from Dadar. Trains meant to end and start at Parel station will, therefore, run without interfering with the movement of any other train.

A new skywalk connecting Parel station to the extreme western border of the WR tracks will be made.

The new skywalk, to be connected to the current FOB with a connector, will be built on the eastern side of the station, along the walls of Tata Mills.

An elevated booking office touching the Elphinstone Road bridge will also have a connector to these twin skywalks.

DNA