An empty view of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj terminus.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus of Mumbai can now accommodate passenger trains of 24 coaches.
From Friday-Sunday, the Mumbai division of Central Railway has planned several infrastructure upgrades for which it had undertaken a special block.
Various departments worked in tandem and successfully completed the mammoth task of commissioning of Electronic Interlocking (EI) at CSMT for extension of platform no. 10 and 11 and widening of platform numbers 5 and 6 at Thane station well before the targeted time to ensure smooth travelling to all commuters.
After extension of CSMT’s platform no 10 and 11 by 385 meters, the length has been increased to 690 meters and can now accommodate passenger trains of 24 coaches.
A block of 36 hours was taken from 00 30 hours of June 1 to 12 30 hours of June 2 on the CSMT-Byculla main line and CSMT-Vadala Road harbour line section for carrying out the work.
The work involved assembling, laying and dismantling of turnouts, erection of Over Head Equipment (OHE) portals including erection of 2 special portals of 53 meters covering all 10 lines which is the first time on Indian Railways. In addition to lengthening of platforms, wiring of points, signals, DC Track circuits and other technical works were also carried out.
The work was accomplished with the help of 250 highly skilled and technically competent staff and an equally efficient team of senior officers and supervisors of CR.
The challenging task of widening platform no. 5 and 6 at Thane station was undertaken and 63 hours of block was operated at Thane from 00 30 hours of May 31 to complete the work.
Platform 5 and 6 at Thane station is one of the busiest platforms handling more than 300 suburban as well as mail/ express trains.
Widening by 2-3 meters for the entire length of 587 meters was done by placement of 785 precast hollow blocks of 1x1x1 meters, 0.5x1x1 meters and 1.5x1x1 meters. These precast blocks reduce the chances of platform surface settlement.
This is the first time such types of blocks were used for platform construction. The work involved the use of 2 concrete pumps, 5 Poclains, 1 Roller, 1 ballast train, 32 tank wagons and 4 locomotives.
One Foot Over Bridge was also dismantled and a new one was constructed a few days earlier to make space for the widening of platforms.
CR’s team of senior officers and supervisors included 15 senior section engineers heading each team and 20 teams of around 400 labourers of 10 different contractors worked round the clock to complete the task within the targeted time.