Bombay HC clears decks for much-awaited new railway station in city, to benefit over 2 lakh daily commuters
Mumbai: In a significant development, the Bombay High Court has lifted a stay on the transfer of part of Thane Mental Hospital's land for the construction of a new railway station in the city. The HC allowed the transfer of the 14-acre land of the hospital, facilitating the work of the railway station between Thane and Mulund stations.
With the decks cleared for the new station, construction on the land belonging to the state government's health department will be initiated soon.
The station is expected to decongest both Thane and Mulund stations and will benefit lakhs of commuters each day.
Of the total 72 acres of the hospital's land only, 14.83 acres will be utilised for the construction of the new railway station. It will come up only on this land. Once this station is built, the commuter footfall at Thane station will reduce by 31 percent and Mulund station by 21 percent, a statement issued by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office explained.
Currently, 7.50 lakh people use Thane railway station for commute daily. Mulund station handles around 2.5 lakh daily passengers. The new station is likely to witness a footfall of around 2.5 lakhs per day.
Commenting on the High Court order, CM Shinde welcomed the decision and also said it would provide easy commute options to large number of Mumbaikars. Shinde represents the Kopri-Pachpakhadi Assembly constituency in Thane.
The proposal for the new station was mooted around eight years ago and the Central Railway approved the plan. Thane Municipal Corporation had allocated funds of Rs 289 crore for the project under its Smart City scheme.
However, considering a Public Interest Litigation in August 2025, HC had directed the Thane collector not to create third party rights, effectively staying the land transfer for the project.
Ending the deadlock, the Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne on Friday lifted the stay, while the court directed that adequate care be taken to ensure that inmates of the hospital, especially the female wards of the mental hospital were not impacted.
Source - timesnownews.com
