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Ulwe railway line is messiah in disguise

A 20-year-old dream became a reality when the Ulwe line started last week. Now, home seems closer

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The Bamandongri station at Ulwe
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I am probably the happiest person alive after the launch of the new railway line to Ulwe and this is no exaggeration. Last year, I shifted from Nerul to Ulwe. While Nerul is at a distance of 24 kilometre from Sion, Ulwe would be another 10 kilometre inwards.

I shifted to a more distant place since I was lured by the idea of a bigger home with ample open space. I was anyway travelling a total of 50 kilometre every day, a few more to Ulwe could not harm or so I thought. But, it did harm. The reason being, lack of a definite rail line to Ulwe.

After getting off at Nerul, I had to stop and procure means to reach home. From hitching rides to coughing up a huge amount for the auto, to requesting a friend to pick me up, all had to be tried. Had the public transport system in Navi Mumbai been of exemplary service, not only Ulwe, even areas beyond would not have been difficult to reach.

The bus services from Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) are nothing to shout about during the day and naturally, after 11 pm, they are nearly dead. There is a shared auto service from Nerul but that would take me only to an entry point to Ulwe, not my home, which is one kilometre from there. If I managed to hop into a State Transport bus, it would drop me somewhere on the Belapur-Uran highway. From there, it is a good two-kilometre walk home. There are autos at Nerul but they demand Rs 250 for a single ride.

The shared autos ask for Rs 30 per seat and have had co-passengers almost sit on my lap. I lived a nightmare every day sometimes hitching a ride, often walking for a good two kilometre. Finally, I bought myself a two-wheeler which helped my case, though I had to cough up so much more for petrol. The scooter, while it took away most of my travel problems, it often scared me since the roads are not the safest to ride alone; only trucks ply at night.

Somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew that the Ulwe line was going to start but that it was given a new deadline every year used to make my heart sink. And finally, a 20-year-old dream became a reality when the Ulwe line started last week. Now, home seems closer and the journey not so unpleasant.

DREAM COME TRUE

I knew that the Ulwe line was going to start but, that it was given a new deadline every year made my heart sink. A 20-year-old dream became a reality when the Ulwe line started last week. Now, home seems closer

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