Central Railway is in talks with the Thane Municipal Corporation to build a new station near Kopri Road over-bridge to decongest Thane station. One of the busiest on the CR’s suburban network, Thane station witnesses about 15 lakh footfalls each day as it caters to commuters from the main line as well as the trans-harbour network. A number of long-distance trains also halt at Thane station, adding to the congestion. The new station will come up between Thane and Mulund, and the TMC has offered some land reserved for a mental hospital to build island platforms, a concourse and a booking office. The municipal corporation also plans to build a Metro station and a bus terminus to ensure seamless travel for commuters.” A senior Central Railway official said the main purpose of the new station being planned at Kopri is decongesting Thane railway station. “Nearly 124 locals originate/terminate from/at Thane. We plan to shift all the locals to the new station, which will help decongest the station by at least 20%,” the official said. TMC commissioner R A Rajeev and CR general manager Subodh Jain held preliminary discussions about the project a fortnight ago. Another top official said, “The project looks good on paper, but we are examining its feasibility on the ground. In any case, the final decision will be taken only after a formal proposal is submitted by the TMC.” The civic body will fund the project and may commercially exploit the space above the proposed station building or adjacent to the station to fund the project. There are six tracks south of Thane; CR will have to build two new tracks adjacent to the northbound slow tracks after Mulund. The platforms can be built adjacent to the Kopri ROB that crosses the railway tracks from Thane east to west. CR runs 785 services on the main line, of which 90% halt at Thane; 208 services ply on the trans-harbour route.
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