Title - Plan for extra CST-Parel rail link may not take off

MUMBAI: If the project to turn Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) into a world-class station does not take off, then Central Railway (CR)'s plan to bring the fifth and sixth lines up to south Mumbai will be derailed. As of now, the fifth and sixth lines have been laid up to Kurla. The additional line will help segregate mail/express and suburban trains, thus opening up the possibility of running more trains.

CR general manager Subodh Jain told TOI, "It will be difficult to carry out remodelling of the yard unless the project takes off. As of now, there are only four platforms to handle 24-coach trains. Without remodelling the yard, it will not be possible to bring trains with these many coaches to CST."

Under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II, it was planned to bring the fifth and sixth lines up to CST and CR decided to undertake the line work in phases. In phase-I, CR will extend these lines up to Parel, where a terminus for suburban trains will come up.

The plan to convert CST into a world-class station is stuck because of objections from International Council on Monuments and Sites, (ICOMOS),

which advises Unesco that had conferred the world heritage site status on CST in 2004.Jain said, "There is no point in carrying out extensive engineering work, including dismantling of road over bridges, to lay the additional lines as yard remodelling cannot be carried out until the project gets approval."