Century-Old Sion Road-Over-Bridge to be redeveloped

A CR official stated, "We are working out the plan and will be meeting the relevant authorities to finalize it. When permissions come in from the state agencies, we can start the work within a month or even less."

Pravin Padwal, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), mentioned a scheduled meeting with CR to discuss the demolition, adding, "I will be able to elaborate further on its demolition only after that."

The purpose behind demolishing the Sion ROB is to create space for the fifth and sixth railway lines between Kurla and Dadar/Parel. This segregation is necessary to separate local train lines from long-distance ones. Currently, the path between Vidyavihar and Dadar/CSMT is fully utilized, and trains operate at maximum capacity. A CR official explained that the expansion of suburban train services could only happen after extending the fifth and sixth lines to Dadar and CSMT.

The estimated cost of rebuilding the Sion ROB is approximately ?50 crore, which CR and the BMC are expected to share. The new ROB will feature a single span of around 51 meters, crossing all six lines and offering increased height from the tracks (5.4 meters or more) to accommodate potential future track adjustments to prevent water-logging during rainy seasons.

One of the main challenges anticipated during the reconstruction is the diversion of road traffic. The Sion ROB connects several key areas, including Bandra-Kurla Complex, Kurla LBS Marg, Dharavi, and Sion, with over 1.5 lakh vehicles crossing it daily. To address this issue, railway sources revealed that work on alternative routes has been ongoing for over a year to alleviate traffic concerns before closing the Sion ROB. CR authorities estimate that rebuilding the bridge will take approximately two to two and a half years.