In the upcoming years, Chunabhatti, another railway level crossing, will close after Vikhroli. At the Chunabhatti crossing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made the decision to build a rail overbridge (ROB) and an independent foot overbridge (FOB). After the project starts, the bridge should be finished in three years.
V N Purav Marg in Chunabhatti and Duncan Causeway in Sion are connected via the Chunabhatti rail crossing. Both road and harbour train traffic is disrupted by this crossing. In 2019, the idea of closing the level crossing was first put out. The BMC has now issued an Rs 37.41 crore tender.
Records show that between 40 and 45 BEST buses utilise this level crossing every day. “It will be a relief if there is a foot overbridge for pedestrians,” said Rajan Naik, a Chunabhatti resident and pedestrian. This railway crossing disproportionately affects women with children and the elderly,” he added.
The level crossing is kept closed during peak hours, which are 8 to 9 am and 7 to 8 evening, according to Harbour Railway records. Though closures can occasionally continue up to 25–30 minutes, the gates typically stay open for two to three minutes every 15–20 minutes.
A BMC official told mid-day, “There will be a separate FOB for pedestrians alongside the vehicular bridge. The project will be finished in thirty-two months. We want to start working on the project as soon as feasible, thus we have invited tenders. The bridge will have two lanes and be 290 meters long.
Mumbai Railways hired the consulting firm Final Mile in 2010 to help them come up with measures to stop rail crossing incidents. Even now, crossing railway tracks is still one of the top ways people die.
Sleepers were periodically painted with yellow stripes. The brain unconsciously adjusted its impression of the train’s speed as a result of these eye-catching stripes, which vanished beneath a moving train.
Source: Mid-day
