With mounds of garbage, Jogeshwari Terminus is now a dumpyard

Mumbai: With construction work for a new terminus going on in Jogeswari for the past one year, the railway ground has now started resembling a dumpyard. Western Railway had earmarked Rs. 70 crores for a new terminus for long distance trains and work on the project had started a year back.

However, owing to the very slow pace of work, that has resulted in accumulation of debris and the resultant muck from the pre-monsoon rains, the area has started looking like a dumping ground. In fact, people working in the nearby MNCs have been complaining about a foul smell emanating from it.

Mounds of garbage, several feet high, can be seen at the location towards the eastern side, near the Ram Mandir station.

“The muck is mainly from the excavation that was carried out on the site, which has accumulated over time. We are facilitating its removal with special trains that carry the debris and garbage out of Mumbai. For this, we have proper contracts in place,” a Western Railway official said.

A multi-crore project plan had been approved by the Railway Board for setting up of a maintenance shed for Vande Bharat AC Sleeper trains close to this terminus. However, work has progressed at a snail’s pace as Western Railway has faced issues in getting adequate manpower. Sources attributed this to the lack of living quarters near the construction site.

In between, work had stalled completely but has resumed with a deadline set for December 2025. The previous target date of completion was June 2024. “The work is almost 25 percent complete,” a WR official said.

The terminus at Jogeshwari will cater to long distance trains from northern and western parts of the country. A goods shed and maintenance facility with pit lines for Vande Bharat Sleeper trains have also been proposed on the site.

In addition to the Rs. 70 crores sanctioned by the Railway Board, the civil works will cost an additional Rs. 36 crores approximately. This includes the construction of platform, approach road, booking office, control tower, foot overbridge, and track.

The new terminus will be accessible from the Western Express Highway and will be well connected by suburban and Metro lines like Line 7 (Andheri to Dahisar via Highway) and Line 6 (Lokhandwala-Vikhroli). There is also a plan to shift 12 trains from Mumbai Central and Bandra terminuses to the Jogeshwari terminus.

It will also have an island platform to handle two trains simultaneously. Currently, Mumbai has only six such terminuses - three each on Western Railway and Central Railway.