Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announces new terminus near Kalyan 

Speaking on the occasion, Prabhu said development of the Thane station would remain the aim of the Railways to improve the suburban travel for commuters. He said the planning had been on for long and improvement of the station was on cards. For the purpose, Prabhu said, the department planned to use funds received from the Ministry of Urban Development for developing 100 cities into smart cities. Thane municipal authorities, with the help of Central Railway, have been working on an extension of the Thane railway station. The project involves making a new station for suburban locals and utilising the land of the old one to create a new terminus for long-distance trains.

Passengers welcomed the decision to develop Thakurli. “Making a terminal will free up a lot of platform space for adding more suburban services. With an increasing spurt of population relying on services originating from Kalyan station for commute, this comes as an important move,” said Gaurang Dharmani, a railway activist.

“The ministry should give us a promise in writing as to when exactly the terminus will be introduced. They should also look at the demand of women passengers to increase the number of coaches for them,” said Vandana Sonawane, member of Railway Mahila Pravasi Sanghatana.

Listing the work done by Railways, Prabhu said, “By converting the 12-car rakes into 15-car rakes, we have increased the passenger capacity of suburban services by 25 per cent. In the next two years, we will see more facilities getting added to the suburban local services. Also, an investment of Rs 40,000 crore is on cards for the improvement of the suburban network. It is being ensured that the state government gets full cooperation from the Union government.”

MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athavale said, “The railway ministry must also look at ensuring smoother travel for the commuters of long-distance trains. In coaches with a carrying capacity of 80, we see 400 commuters travelling. Curbing ticket-less travelling and adding more services must be the aim.”