Rail station at Bandra East to now get the Mumbai Central Terminus look

Western Railway has begun fencing work in the area outside the station in Bandra East. File pic

Weeks after the massive demolition drive at Garib Nagar, outside the railways station in Bandra East, Western Railway will now begin developing the cleared space into a circulating area for train passengers.

WR Mumbai Divisional Railway Manager Pankaj Singh said the circulating area will be similar to the space outside the West entrance to Bandra station, and will ensure that passengers can take breath and not be thrown directly onto the road upon exiting the station.

"The area is in the process of being fenced. A part of the area will also be taken over for an integrated Bandra Terminus," he told mid-day, adding that it will be similar to Mumbai Central Terminus.

‘Had to follow SC orders'

Singh said they had cleared the area in accordance with long-decided plans for the station. "As far as the encroachers were concerned, we did not do anything to prove a point but just followed Supreme Court orders lest we would have been pulled up," he said, adding, "Also, it is not that structures of any particular community were targeted. There were structures of all communities that were brought down equally to follow the court orders."

Plans for the space

. Building an integrated station complex for Bandra Terminus station with more platforms, shifting the maintenance facilities, undertaking more capacity augmentation and more infrastructure

. "At present 22 mail/express trains originate and terminate at Bandra Terminus. These will be increased by 50 per cent over the coming years. Overall, there is a plan to add 50 new originating express trains from Mumbai region of Western Railway. All these new trains will require maintenance space. The idea is to build related infra and shift the maintenance facilities," Singh added.