By The long project to remove the old Elphinstone railway bridge in Mumbai has reached a very important step. Over the weekend, the last big parts of the bridge over the Western Railway tracks were safely taken down. This is great news for people traveling through the city. Also, the Central Railway has finally agreed to give the necessary time, called railway blocks, to finish the rest of the work.
The process of taking down this 102-metre-long bridge started at the end of December 2025. It has been a slow and careful job because the bridge sits right over busy train tracks. First, the workers cut loose the panels of the bridge floor. Then, they used cranes to lift these parts away. This left only the heavy steel structures on the sides, which are called girders.
On Saturday night, around 80 workers from the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation and Western Railway gathered for a tough task. They had to remove the last two girders over the Western Railway side. These steel pieces are massive. Each one is 32 metres long. One weighs 28 tonnes and the other weighs 27 tonnes. They used a giant crane that can lift 800 metric tonnes to do this heavy lifting.
This was actually their second try to remove these girders. They tried a week earlier, but a hydraulic pipe on the crane burst. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the crane needed repairs before they could try again. This time, the team started their work after the last train passed at 1:30 in the morning. They finished just a little after their 6:00 AM deadline. Most train tracks were working normally by 6:30 AM, avoiding major delays for morning travelers.
With this success, the entire section of the bridge over the Western Railway is now gone. Almost two-thirds of the whole bridge has been completely dismantled.
However, there is still work to do on the Central Railway side. The final and longest part of the bridge, which is 37 metres long, is still standing over those tracks. The work here was stopped for three months because the Central Railway was worried about giving enough time to safely do the work. The old bridge is very close to overhead electric wires. Taking the bridge apart means workers have to move these wires and put them back, which takes a lot of time.
The contractors asked to do this work during short blocks in the middle of the night. The Central Railway initially wanted them to take one long block of six to nine hours on a weekend instead. A long block like that would stop hundreds of trains and cause big problems for passengers. It would also require special permission from officials in New Delhi. Because of this disagreement, the giant crane just stood waiting, which cost a lot of money every month.
Finally, after a big meeting, the officials found a solution. The Central Railway agreed to allow short blocks at night so the workers can slowly remove the rest of the bridge panels. This compromise is very helpful. Now, the engineers are working very hard to finish taking down the old bridge completely. Their goal is to have the space ready to build a new, double-decker railway bridge by September. This new bridge will eventually make travel in Mumbai much easier and safer for everyone.
Western Railway has successfully dismantled the final girders of the Elphinstone bridge over its tracks in Mumbai. With Central Railway now permitting night blocks, the remaining structure will be removed soon. This milestone clears the way for a new double-decker bridge, aiming to improve passenger movement and reduce congestion in the busy railway corridor.
