India, Nov. 9 -- It has been over three years since work on Amrit Bharat stations began and, yet, not a single suburban station on the Western Railway (WR) in Mumbai has been fully upgraded under this scheme, while the Central Railway (CR) has made much quicker progress. The scheme is a nationwide mission by the ministry of railways to modernise over 1,300 railway stations across India into vibrant, modern transport hubs.

Across both the Central and Western railways' suburban network in Mumbai, 38 stations are included - seven on the WR and five on the CR in phase one.

On the Western Railway, seven stations have been taken up in phase one but work is proceeding at snail's pace. The seven stages earmarked for soft upgrades by the Railway...