Western Railway (WR) had a brush with history when it replaced one of the oldest structural components on Mumbai suburban railway, a 129-year-old span near Kandivali, a move that will boost the speed of services on the section. A plaque on the old structure has been preserved.

Fabricated by the same firm that had worked on the iconic Jubilee Bridge in West Bengal (spanning the Hooghly River between Naihati and Bandel), which was opened in 1885 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 50th year on the throne, the bridge at Kandivali had been a living relic of early railway engineering. Forged in 1897, when Mumbai was gripped by a brutal plague, this span has outlived a crisis that reshaped the city itself.