The bureaucratic football being played with the Rs900 crore plan to build fifth and sixth lines between Kurla and CST to segregate long-distance trains from suburban locals has hit the commuters using Kurla and Dadar stations the hardest.

Because envisaged within this Rs900 crore project is two major developments for Kurla and Dadar that could change the face of commuting in both the stations. The plans for the fifth and sixth lines have been tossed between the Central Railway and the railway ministry several times in the past two years.

The Kurla flyover planEvery Harbour Line commuter knows the sheer exasperation of seeing his train wait for as long as 15 minutes when goods train probably carrying coal or fuel crosses the Harbour line to move onto the fast track to move towards Thane. The fight between goods trains and suburban locals have been going on for years now and for commuters it is a grin and bear situation because the moolah in the railways – almost 70 per cent – comes from freight and not your tickets.

The situation threatens to get far worse once the Rs107 crore third line being build by Mumbai Port Trust, the Central Railway and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) comes into the picture. This third line will bring in more goods wagons because the Mumbai Port Trust wants to transport coal coming into its port quickly and in larger quantities.

Officials say the number of goods trains, once this third line comes up, will be far more than the 15 to 20 that move through Kurla now. The plan calls for the creation of a rail flyover starting from the north of Chunabhatti to the south of Tilaknagar stations with a three line Harbour station right above the current platforms 7 and 8. To be built on stilts, the elevated station would allow goods trains to move on the tracks at ground level while Harbour line trains "fly" over them.

"Harbour Line is growing rapidly at 9.22 per cent and is expected to sustain this kind of pace for several years now. At the same time the number of goods trains will go up in the future because of the money it brings in. So having this goods train and suburban local tangle could create law and order problems as commuter traffic keeps growing at this pace," said an official.

Dadar Home PlatformFor years, one of the densest platforms on the suburban system was the twin platform number 1 and 2 of the Central Railway's Dadar station. As slow trains pull into platform number one and trains terminating at Dadar come into platform two, the crowds that spill out take more than 15 minutes to clear out.

The solution CR officials have found is to create a platform on the western side of platform number one. Currently, this stretch of land is dotted with railway union offices and smaller offices.

The creation of this "home platform" could allow people to alight on both sides from a local coming into Dadar from CST. The home platform can also be accessed from the road that marks the boundary between WR and CR's ownership of Dadar. Officials say this road that runs all the way from Tilak Bridge on the north-end of Dadar has space on either side to be widened.

However, there are hurdles. The land has union offices – which might be tough to remove – and also it is a bit of no-man's land with its ownership not clear."It is something we owe the people of Mumbai. These hurdles will have to be overcome and these works should take place. If the fifth and sixth line don't come in time, at least the Dadar and Kurla works should proceed," said an official.