RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Thane-Kalyan 5th & 6th lines

Dear all,

What puzzles me is, where will the TNA-KYN 5th & 6th lines be laid. Are there any official document giving the details of the alignment?

There are three ways the alignment can be laid: -

1) A thorough tunnel (like the existing one) through Parsik hill, all the way to Diva. Apart from the blasting, there is yet another hurdle to this alignment: the Thane Vashi lines. They hug the 3rd & 4th mainline on the left (towards Bombay, greater) with a factory (Mukund, and another shut factory) towards their left (towards Bombay). If the factory property is bought, and the TNA-Vashi line shifted, then the whole alignment, including bridges, a lake outside TNA east, slums, well, everything till almost Patni will have to be realigned. Yes, it is a very costly prospect.

2) If the new line is planned between the existing 1st-2nd and 3rd-4th lines, there are some slums, then a mountain till Diva. Again, there will be a considerable portion of tunneling to do, and I wont get into the slum rehabilitation.

3) On the other side, there is the 1st and 2nd slow lines that bifurcate just before Kalwa carshed starts, take a roundabout and rejoin a little before Diva. Now, if a little of the carshed is usurped to make the new lines, then there will be bridge form a State (National?) highway to deal with near Mumbra, and the end of the Parsik Hill, a small 200 or so meter long stretch of black basalt to blast through. All in all, this would be a cheaper alignment. Especially if you take some property away from the Kalwa CS, and build a new 1st and 2nd lines, rename the existing 1st and 2nd lines as 3rd & 4th, then the present 3rd & 4th lines will automatically become the 5th & 6th lines.

Regards,

Kartik Kaushik

CE, MU.