Western Railway (WR) has successfully undertaken various infrastructural upgradation as well as augmentation works under the nationwide lockdown during the Coronavirus Pandemic. In the last few months, Western Railway has completed many construction works of Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) & Skywalks and have also undertaken repair works of several Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and FOBs, making the best use of the lockdown situation, during the night blocks.
- According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, two years after the safety audit conducted by IIT-Bombay, Western Railway has worked steadily towards the improvement of safety of passengers in the Mumbai Suburban section.
- On the Churchgate-Virar section, the audit was conducted on 115 FOBs out of which 16 FOBs were declared to be closed based on their structure analysis.
- Shutting the FOBs and re-building in stipulated time, posed as a twin challenge for the railway considering the increasing number of passengers.
- The dismantling work of FOBs were done with utmost care and meticulous planning, by ensuring safety of trains operating under them.
- The closing of FOBs on station were done scrupulously and alternate ways were provided for passengers to use in a systemized manner.
- Western Railway took advantage of the lockdown period and has now successfully dismantled 13 FOBs, out of which 8 FOBs were dismantled this year itself.
- Shri Thakur added that Western Railway had closed all of the 16 FOBs and has re-built 13 FOBs with increased deck width of 10m/12m to cater to the increased number of passengers.
- It is worthwhile to mention that among the FOBs dismantled and rebuilt, 3 FOBs had archaic quadricornis trusses with pin jointed structures.
- Inspection and maintenance of such pin jointed structures were also difficult.
- Western Railway has also completed repairs of 36 FOBs.
- WR is always in the forefront to provide a safe and comfortable travelling experience to the commuters with provision of additional Foot Over Bridges.
- There are a total 138 Foot Over Bridges in the Mumbai suburban section of W. Rly. These efforts go a long way to combat the problems such as trespassing, overcrowding on bridges, etc.
- During this lockdown period, 14 new Foot Over Bridges & one new Skywalk as well as extension of Bandra Terminus FOB have been commissioned over the Mumbai Suburban section of Western Railway.
- Besides this, important construction works of Delisle ROB near Lower Parel station and Frere ROB near Grant Road station are in progress and are being carried out in full swing.
Source: Western Railway-Press Release
