Western Railways eyes for 64 foot over bridges by 2021

Western Railway will build 64-foot overbridges over the next two years, 30 of which will be ready for use in 2019, a senior official said Friday. He informed that WR had commissioned 19 FOBs in 2018 and four new ones would come up before the end of the current fiscal in March this year. He said a greater number of FOBs on the suburban network would provide relief to commuters and also bring down instances of people trying to cross tracks to change platforms. Plans to build FOBs in the metropolis gained momentum after a stampede on a narrow bridge connecting Parel and Elphinstone (now Prabhadevi) stations in September 2017 killed 23 people.

A cave-in of a portion of a bridge at the southern end of Andheri station in July last year had killed five people, prompting Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to order an audit of all such structures on the suburban networks of WR and Central Railway. Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, said meticulous planning and time-bound execution was ensuring that FObs were being built at a fast rate across its network. He informed that the Carriage Repair Workshop at Lower Parel had built a modified bridge inspection coach for speedy checking of these structures. An order for an 8-wheel overhead inspection car had also been placed with the Dahod Workshop, he informed.

(With inputs from agencies.)