14,000 crore CST-Panvel fast corridor now facing hurdles

Central Railway’s ambitious Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus-Panvel fast corridor has hit a roadblock after the divisional administration found some issues pertaining to the project’s implementation.

The Mumbai division of Central Railway, who is responsible for overseeing the project, wrote to the General Manager of the Central Railway (CR) stating that the project cannot be executed as it may result in frequent disruptions in suburban train operations.

The 48.3 km long CST-Panvel fast corridor was first proposed in the 2009-10 Railway Budget. The Rs 14,000 crore project, which was supposed to kickstart next month, includes an 31 km elevated route from south Mumbai to Vashi, with the remaining 12.4 km stretch running parallel to the existing lines. The corridor also requires a construction of a 4.3 km bridge over Thane creek.

A senior railway official told PTI, “Yes, this is right that the Mumbai division of CR has apprised the General Manager of Central Railway about a few big impediments to execute the project.”

“Out of the two major hurdles, the first is that during the execution of this infrastructural project, we would require unprecedented megablocks, that would throw suburban operations out of track. Also, it would be extremely difficult to construct the stations (on the fast corridor) over the (already existing) stations under strict caution,” he said.

He refused to divulge any additional details of the letter.

The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, had recently submitted the final plan for the corridor to the Railway Board following six years of deliberations.

A Central Railway spokesperson also told the agency that they have taken note of the issues and trying to work around them, considering the long term importance of the project.