21 April,2025 07:49 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
The 110-year-old Sion bridge is taken apart. Its replacement will be ready about 30 months after the dismantling work is completed
Central Railway (CR) finally began dismantling the Sion road overbridge on Sunday. For this, a block was operated from 10.55 am to 3.55 pm. "On Sunday, seven old girders of the old Sion bridge were removed. Work will continue further," a CR spokesperson said. The block was operated between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Vidyavihar, and besides the dismantling operation, several maintenance and upgrade works were taken up in various sections till Vidyavihar.
CR and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be jointly reconstructing a new bridge with no spans below the railway area, creating space for two more rail lines, which will be a part of the fifth and sixth lines. Currently, the bridge over the railway portion is around 40 metres long. This will be increased to 51 metres. The new bridge will be ready in 30 months after the demolition work is completed. The estimated cost of building the replacement as well as the approach road is around R50 crore, shared between the BMC and the Railways.
mid-day had highlighted a few weeks ago how six months after shutting down the Sion bridge in August 2024, four trees and a toilet block were blocking the demolition process. The 110-year-old bridge that connects the Eastern Express Highway to the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Road and Dharavi Road had been declared dangerous a few years ago. An Indian Institute of Technology bridge audit had sounded an alert about the dilapidated condition of the structure as early as 2020, stating that keeping it hanging over running rail lines was extremely dangerous, as its lifespan had expired.
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For laying the fifth and sixth lines, Sion railway station, one of the key stations on the country's oldest line, is being shifted a bit westward to accommodate new rail lines and the new platforms. While a new rail platform will slightly abut the arterial LBS Road, the existing platform on which the heritage hut stands will be converted into an island platform with trains operating on either side.
