Decongesting FOBs: ‘Bifurcated staircases’ at six stations

Such a bridge design is being planned at Grant Road, Mumbai Central, Mahim, Naigaon, Nalasopara and Mahalaxmi stations on the Western Railway (WR).While length of each bridge would differ, Mumbai Central bridge would be the longest at 104 meters. “The model’s advantage is that it increases discharge capacity of the bridge. A single bridge can carry twice the commuters in comparison to a regular foot overbridge due to additional entry-exit points. This will prevent them from crowding near one staircase during the rush hour,” the MRVC official added.

The concept design has been adapted from the bridge design in Versailles-Chantier railway station at Versailles in France. “After learning about the design, we wanted to see if we can adopt it to suburban railway standards. This is the first time that any railway station in the country would witness such a bridge design. It suits the commuters needs of suburban railway section,” the MRVC official added.

The railways have approved the drawings of the bridge. While technical clearances for the design is awaited, it is expected to be in within a month, officials said. The cost of these bridges would depend upon the facilities to be provided on each bridge.

“The cost of such bridges vary between Rs 8-12 crore, depending upon its length and escalators to be installed. We estimate the work to be completed within 18 months,” an official said. The MRVC is constructing as many as 50 foot overbridges across Mumbai. Apart from these six bridges, the remaining foot overbridges, would be six-metre wide due to space constraints. However, the bifurcated staircase bridge model would not be applicable to the remaining bridges.