Mumbai: With at least four new metro rail lines slated to open partially by the end of the year, top officials from the Indian Railways will hold a joint meeting on Monday to discuss ways of integrating suburban railway stations with the metro and other major modes of transport. The meeting will focus on measures to ensure multi modal integration (MMI), especially at railway stations that merge with the metro network, and aim to bypass the problems encountered at stations like Andheri and Ghatkopar which currently have interchange facilities, top railway officials told Hindustan Times.
Monday’s meeting, to be chaired by Satish Kumar, chairman and chief executive officer of the Railway Board, will be held at the Central Railway’s headquarters at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). It will be attended by officers from the Central Railway, Western Railway, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, Rail Land Development Authority and Dedicated Freight Corridor.
“The thrust will be on MMI,” a senior railway official said about the upcoming meeting, on condition of anonymity. “Advance planning and redesigning is required for railway stations that will merge with the metro network, else we may see a repeat of the chaos witnessed at Ghatkopar and Andheri stations due to unplanned connectivity.”
Among the four metro lines that are slated to be operational by year-end, line 2B will merge with railway stations at Bandra, Kurla and Mankhurd, line 4 will merge with the Kanjurmarg and Kurla railway stations, line 5 will merge with Kalyan, while line 6 will merge with Jogeshwari and Kanjurmarg stations.
Elevated decks measuring 6.43 lakh square feet – the equivalent of nearly six Azad Maidans – are being constructed over all suburban stations on the Western and Central Railways networks at a cost of ₹947 crore. These decks will decongest overcrowded stations by accommodating ticket counters, toilets, food stalls and commercial spaces, apart from providing connectivity with metro stations where they merge with the suburban network.
On Saturday, Satish Kumar and other rail officials inspected the elevated deck at Khar station, which measures more than 5,000 square meters, and is connected to Bandra Terminus via a skywalk, which is an important component of MMI, said officials.
“The inspection helped us understand the possibility of adopting similar measures at other stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Development Scheme,” said a Western Railway official.
The findings are likely to be discussed during Monday’s meeting, which will feature a handful of powerpoint presentations, the official said.
“We will be discussing travel patterns at railway stations, including current footfall, availability of interchange with the metro and circumstances outside stations,” said another official. “We need to understand the potential surge in footfall when two mass transit systems intersect.”
Apart from integrating railway and metro stations, MMI will feature wide footpaths outside stations, pedestrian crossings, signages and designated parking bays for buses, autos, cars, and aggregators cabs. These facilities will be located within a 500-metre radius of metro stations, said officials.