Mumbai: Sewri’s level crossing to be history soon

Public at the level crossing at Sewri

Harbour line level crossings (LC) that delay local trains are set to go. The process for the removal of one of the oldest LC gates along the harbour line at Sewri has begun with the Maharail, a joint body of the Maharashtra government and Indian Railways taking the lead.

The MRIDCL has floated tenders to build a single-tier road overbridge at Sewri in place of the existing level crossing gate; during a census, the Chunabhatti crossing was found as one of the densest on the harbour line, followed by the one at Sewri

Maharail, also called the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (MRIDCL), has floated tenders to build a single-tier road over bridge at Sewri in place of the existing level crossing gate. If work goes as per schedule, the level crossing gate shall be shut within three years.

Once this LC is removed, two more will remain in Mumbai city limits, one at Kurla and another at Chunabhatti. While the Kurla one will get eliminated automatically with the harbour line getting elevated in the next few years, the one at Chunabhatti will then remain.

The vulnerability of a level crossing is measured in terms of Train Vehicle Unit (TVU) which is obtained by multiplying the number of trains with the number of vehicles passing through the level crossing in 24 hours, where, trains, road vehicles, bullock carts and even tongas are considered one unit and cycle rickshaw/auto rickshaws are considered half unit.

A census of all level crossings is done once every three years for seven days. During such a census, the crossing on Chunabhatti was found as one of the densest on the harbour line, followed by the one at Sewri. Central Railway Chief Public Relations officer Shivaji Sutar said, "Closing of level crossing gates always plays a crucial role in maintaining punctuality of trains and subsequently, not cancelling suburban trains on account of gate opening. CR also has a targeted deadline for closure of all level crossing gates on its zone."