Western Railway (WR) has started removing steel members on which the vertical glass façade of Churchgate station building rested, as it plans to undertake structural repairs before painting the building.
The aluminium cladding came loose and fell on four pedestrians, including a 63-year-old man who died on June 12, 2019. Western Railway decided to undertake a structural audit of all four sides of the building and removed the cladding months after the incident. Five panels (one of 2.4m x 1.2m and four of 1.2m x 1.2m) came loose as the passing Vayu cyclone had led to strong winds.
Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railway, said, “A scrap contractor has been appointed to remove the steel members on which the cladding and glass façade were fixed. We decided to do away with the glass facade as the steel is prone to corrosion due to its proximity to the sea. Structural repairs of the building will be undertaken before painting.”
