Virar is a railway station on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Virar is a terminus station.
It is around one and a half hours away by train from Churchgate , the first station on the Western Line. Virar is a very
crowded area, among other adjacent stations like Vasai Road because it is a major tourist spot of Mumbai . It is the only railway station that connects Mumbai to other northern stations like Saphale, Palghar, Dahanu and distant southern cities of Gujarat like Vapi, Surat, etc.
An outpost of Mumbai, Virar is connected with the mainland by electric train since 1925.
Churchgate - Virar Elevated Rail Corridor[]
Western Railways is working out the funding model for elevated Churchgate-Virar corridor which received a pre-feasibility nod from the Planning Commission and the state government. The cost of the project is estimated to be around 15,000 crore and could vary in future because of delays or inflationary pressures. The Railways may also approach the World Bank to partly fund the elevated track project or request the state government to share the cost.
The entire stretch of the 60km additional route will not be elevated. The track will run underground between Churchgate and Mahalaxmi and then again be elevated up to Santa Cruz station. Between Vile Parle and Andheri, the track will be at ground level alongside the existing track since this area falls in the funnel area of aircraft -both the domestic and international and airports are located a few kilometres away from the railway tracks. The track will be elevated beyond Andheri and Dahisar and later run at ground level at Mira Road, but will again be elevated just before Bhayander.
The tracks will come down to road level between Naigaon and Vasai and again be elevated from Vasai Road till Virar. There are a total of 83 foot over bridges and 25 road-overbridges on the Western Line but none of these will have to be demolished to build the elevated corridor, as the height of the corridor will vary between 15 metres and 20 metres. The elevated track will come up on piers that will be constructed between existing tracks. For underground routes, the Railways may use cut-and-cover technology or build an underground tunnel. The engineering decisions will be taken after soil testing and taking into account the cost factor.
The number of stations and their locations are yet to be finalised, as factors like connectivity with other modes of transport, land availability and commuter load will have to be considered.