One city, two railways, and endless complications. Here’s yet another reason why Mumbai needs a single suburban railway authority instead of two separate zones, Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR). A mid-day investigation has found that two of the city’s biggest projects, the expansion of WR’s Dadar mid-town terminus and CR’s 5th and 6th lines, are stuck, each waiting for land from the other.
Sources said WR requires land at Currey Road, currently under CR, for an upgrade and expansion of Dadar Terminus. Meanwhile, CR has been waiting for land from WR at Dadar for its long-delayed fifth and sixth lines. Though both fall under Indian Railways, their zonal jurisdictions, priorities, and land assets are handled independently, leading to bureaucratic gridlock.
The Western Railway side
WR plans to upgrade Dadar with an additional full-length platform line to boost capacity. The plan includes laying a new line to accommodate more trains. However, the catch is that it will only be used for platform-return trains, outstation trains halting briefly for checks, when the real demand is for Dadar-originating services. For that, WR needs a train examination centre, pit line, and basic maintenance infrastructure nearby. The identified land at Currey Road, however, belongs to CR and houses its general stores depot.
CR requires about 8554 sq m of land at Dadar from WR for construction of 5th and 6th lines between Kurla and Parel. Pics/By Special Arrangement
The Central Railway side
CR, on the other hand, has been working on constructing the 5th and 6th lines between Kurla and Parel. For this, it requires about 8554 sq m of land at Dadar from WR. In December 2015, CR requested WR to shift its structures at Dadar and provide cost estimates. WR responded in April 2016 with an estimate of `12.43 crore for relocation. CR gave its consent a year later, asking WR to take up the work without delay. Despite repeated follow-ups in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, the land transfer has not happened, stalling the project.
Official stand
Officials insist that discussions are ongoing and that land transfers will happen as projects move forward. “There will not be any hindrance to affect the timelines,” an official claimed. A CR spokesperson added, “The 5th and 6th lines between Kurla and CSMT are delayed due to land acquisition. The WR land at Dadar is a very small part of the requirement. There is no major hindrance in shifting ownership.”
Voices from the city
“The need for a unified suburban railway has been pending for years. We need a separate Suburban Railway Corporation for Mumbai, up to Virar on WR and Kalyan/Panvel on CR. Like MRVC, it can be a 50:50 partnership between Centre and state, with decision-making in Mumbai, not Delhi,” said AV Shenoy of Mumbai Vikas Samiti. “Western and Central run like two separate worlds. If they were one system, ticketing, coordination, and even passenger info would be seamless. Why should we change lines and apps just to check train status?” said Ratan Kamath, an office-goer from Borivli.
“Merging CR and WR makes sense only if it improves services. If it becomes another bloated bureaucracy, nothing will change. What matters is accountability and punctuality,” said Dewang Desai, an IT professional from Thane. “We lose time every day because WR and CR have different timetables, apps, and priorities. Unified management could integrate services the way the Metro does,” said Shivnarayan Sharma, a commuter from Andheri-Kurla.
