An official at Udhna Railway station said that during the peak vacation and Holi period, the average footfall at Udhna Railway station reaches up to 30,000 a day.

To prevent accidents caused by passengers or porters walking across railway tracks to cross over, the Mumbai Division of Western Railway installed the ‘subway’ built by L&T under the tracks, to save time taken to build footover bridges or tunnels of Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC).

Installed in 8 hours

The project employs a ‘track cut-and-cover’ method which involves installing a pre-fabricated, arch-shaped steel tunnel beneath the tracks, said Divisional Railway Manager, W R Pankaj Singh.

“During construction, the track is cut for a scheduled duration, excavation is carried out to position the steel arch, and the pit is subsequently filled to restore the track to operational status. The entire process is designed to be completed within a record eight hours to ensure minimal disruption to train operations,” said Singh. As planned, the installation at the station was completed within eight hours on Friday, marking another milestone in railway infrastructure, he said.

In the presence of Singh, and Principal Chief Engineer Amit Gupta, the existing railway tracks connecting Udhna in Gujarat to Jalgaon in Maharashtra from Platform number 6 of Udhna Railway Station were cut, and the earth below the tracks was excavated to make a big pit and later the steel arch shaped structure was inserted beneath the ground in the excavated area and it was covered with mud. The removed tracks were then refitted on its original location. No major train schedules were affected during such operations, railway officials said.

“After seeing the outcome, we think this technology could be adopted at other railway stations and busy rail sections across the country in the future, a Western Railway official said.

Singh stated that this subway is being constructed exclusively for pedestrians.

“At several locations, passengers cross railway tracks—an extremely dangerous practice, particularly in areas with curved tracks and limited visibility. A similar situation exists at the Udhna bypass line; consequently, this new technique has been adopted following approval from the Ministry of Railways,” the DRM said.

The subway at the station is around 12 meters long, 4.8 meters wide, and 2.7 meters high. Steel arches and precast concrete foundations are being used in its construction, significantly reducing the time required for traditional RCC methods.

The factory-fabricated steel structure is installed directly at the site, ensuring superior quality and minimising the duration of track blocks.

Once completed, the subway will eliminate the hazardous at-grade crossing on the bypass line, thereby reducing the risk of accidents, said an official with Western Railway, Mumbai Division.