Extra building,facilities to make Borivali station a major terminus

The WR is also constructing a two-storey building on the east side of the station to cater to the needs of the passengers of long distance trains.

“The building will have all the facilities like Food Plaza,cloak room and waiting room,” said WR chief spokesperson Shyam Sunder Gupta. “We have plans to develop Andheri and Dadar stations also.”

Of the 1121 train services on the Western Railway (WR),484 trains either start from or terminate at Borivali station. This figure does not include the trains plying between Churchgate and Virar. So,the pressure to manage these trains is quite intense.

“With the construction of the platform no 6A,we can decongest the rail traffic,” said C P Sharma,divisional railway manager,Mumbai. “Some of the trains running between Borivali and Virar also can use the platform no 6A. This would decongest platform no 2,3 and 4. Trains on these platforms run on tight margins especially during the peak hours. In future,Dahanu trains an also terminate their journey at this platform.”

The 140-year-old Borivali is one of the oldest stations. Interestingly,Borivali station handles more rail traffic than Churchgate station. Churchgate station,which has only four platforms,does not cater to long distance trains or fast trains. It also cannot accommodate 15-coach trains. In future,Borivali would be having nine platforms that can accommodate 9-coach to 15-coach trains,said railway sources.

Spurt in accidental deaths in Borivali
Borivali has become an accident-prone area on the suburban section of the Western Railway (WR) and has shown a spurt in accidental deaths on the tracks this year. According to sources,around 339 people lost their lives in different train accidents in this section between January and October 2009. Sources said around 1,236 accidental deaths have been reported in the Churchgate-Virar section of the WR this year. Borivali section comprises Dahisar, Borivali,Kandivali,Malad and Goregaon stations. As per the sources,111 people died in several rail accidents in Goregaon alone between January and October 2009. On Tuesday,a 56-year-old commuter—Gurudeep Singh Virdi— died after falling off Golden Temple Express. He was coming from Amritsar. Also,two youths died in different accidents near Ramphatak and Goregaon on Tuesday. Twenty four-year-old Riki Santosh Kumar Bhattu was run over by a Borivali-bound train when he was crossing the tracks at 12.51 am. Similarly,at same place,one more person was run over by a train at 4.35 am. “In many areas,there is no fencing. Most of the deaths occur as people cross the tracks. There are some level crossings in this area,where lot of accidents occur. These should also be closed,” said Karyakarte,senior police inspector,GRP.Kalpana Verma