Although for a civic cause, the Central Railways's (CR) cleaning work at Kalyan station on Sunday delayed and cancelled several trains. While the CR removed 120 tonnes of steel from a 104-year-old steel bridge (or Patripul) near the station, commuters had to wait for 15-20 minutes for trains. 150 locals were cancelled.
CR authorities started a mega block at 9.30 am on the Thakurli-Kalyan section to bring down the bridge near the busy Kalyan station. The first span of the bridge was removed between 11 am to 11.57 am and the other between 11.50 am to 12.40 pm.
"We completed the block well ahead of schedule at 2.30 pm. The first Mail Express train passed at 2.40 pm and suburban at 2.50 pm," said Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO, CR. A team of 250-300 persons including 50 engineers, 200 workers and RPF personnel were present at the site.
The block was between 9.30 am to 3.30 pm. Rail lines were opened by 3 pm. During the period, a lot of rush gathered at stations owing cancellation of suburban locals. However, the CR authorities claimed that they stationed 4 staff each at Kalyan, Dombivali, Thakurli, Bhiwandi Road, Diva and Vithalwadi stations for assistance to passengers.
However, the CR claims to have operated 178 extra suburban trains between Kasara/Karjat-Kalyan and CSMT-Dombivali. Extra buses were plied on the roads between 9.28 am to 2.48 pm. There were 121 bus services run by the MSRTC and 206 bus services by KDMT, thus carrying 26,000 passengers. They also ran 25-30 special bus services for Pune and Nasik to compensate cancellation of intercity trains.
The bridge had two steel spans of a length of 27-metre each. Each span weighed approximately 60 tonnes. These were removed using two crawler cranes of 600 tonnes and 400 tonnes. They also kept two other cranes of 120-tonne capacity each, on standby. The road surface above the bridge was dismantled without any block earlier.
The preparation to dismantle the bridge was done in September 2018. But, this was postponed ahead of festivals. The bridge was constructed in 1914. Owing to ever-increasing traffic on the bridge while it was nearing its time, another bridge was constructed in 2001. A safety audit was done by IIT Bombay in July 2018. It was suggested that the old bridge be dismantled without delay.
THE RAIL OVERBRIDGE HAD SERVED ITS TIME
The Patripul bridge was constructed in 1914. Owing to ever increasing traffic on the bridge while it was nearing its time, another bridge was constructed in 2001. A safety audit was conducted by IIT Bombay in July 2018. It was suggested that the old bridge be dismantled without delay.
