Cidco, CR in war of words over Seawoods stn upkeep:The Times of India

Both The Parties Are Reluctant To Take Up The Job

Even as the new Seawoods station is likely to be commissioned by the end of September, Cidco and Central Railway (CR) are caught in a bitter war of words on the issue of its maintenance. Despite several meetings, they are yet to break the deadlock.

A Cidco official told TOI on Monday , “We have clearly told CR that we will not take up the maintenance as it is their job.CR does the maintenance of stations all across Mumbai and the suburbs.“

But CR is reluctant to accede as it will also lead to a situation where it will have to take up maintenance of all the stations on the new corridor that Cidco has proposed.

The new station will serve commuters on Harbour and Trans-Harbour routes after the commissioner of railway safety approves running of trains.An official from Cidco said, “We have been told that the commissioning would be done by the end of next month.“

However, the impasse would only delay the commissioning. It would also hold up development of the existing station into a junction. The present station has to be dismantled for the junction to be developed for the new Uran corridor.

Cidco and CR had signed an agreement to develop the rail corridor in the city on a 67:33 cost sharing basis.

Sources said CR was reluctant to take charge of maintenance of the new station and other stations on the new corridor as Cidco has asked it to also annul the earlier agreement of Cidco maintaining 14 stations on the Mankhurd-BelapurPanvel corridor and the other arm of the rail link to Airoli.

A Cidco source said, “We have done maintenance work since 1992 when Vashi station was commissioned, as the CR had made a request. It was a temporary arrangement and we cannot keep on doing it.“

But CR has countered it saying the railways helped the infra development in the city , which, in turn, provided connectivity. So, the railways should take up maintenance work, provided Cidco also looked into handing over commercial properties. This is particularly regarding the Vashi and Belapur stations, where Cidco signed a separate agreement with CR to develop the space on top of the stations.