India, Nov. 11 -- In a major step towards improving the punctuality of local trains, Central Railway (CR) is set to discontinue 10 level-crossing (LC) gates between Kalyan and Karjat. Each LC gate, depending on the time of day, forces a train to halt for three to seven minutes till road vehicles finish crossing the tracks.

According to CR officials, four LC gates at Vangani, one in Neral, three in Bhivpuri and two in Karjat will be closed, in lieu of which road over bridges (ROBs) will be constructed. All these LC gates are on CR's suburban rail corridor and hamper the smooth movement of trains. With their closure, trains on the Kalyan-Karjat/Khopoli section will save eight to 10 minutes on an average.

"We expect 10 new ROBs to be built...