One city, two railways, and endless complications. Here’s yet another reason why Mumbai needs a single suburban railway authority instead of two separate zones, Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR). A mid-day investigation has found that two of the city’s biggest projects, the expansion of WR’s Dadar mid-town terminus and CR’s 5th and 6th lines, are stuck, each waiting for land from the other.

Sources said WR requires land at Currey Road, currently under CR, for an upgrade and expansion of Dadar Terminus. Meanwhile, CR has been waiting for land from WR at Dadar for its long-delayed fifth and sixth lines. Though both fall under Indian Railways, their zonal jurisdictions, priorities, and land assets are handled independently, leading to bureaucratic gridlock.

The Western Railway side