Railways outlines near Rs 50,000 crore rail projects for Mumbai under MUTP-3A
The projects under MUTP-3A will substantially increase the passenger carrying capacity of the suburban rail network (Representational Image)
Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials on Friday unveiled the outline for the near Rs 50,000 crore MUTP-3A (Mumbai Urban Transport Project), the biggest rail project for the city till date.
The officials presented the plan to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Chairman of Railway Board Ashwani Lohani and other senior officials at the state’s Sahyadri guesthouse.
With the inclusion of new proposals, the overall cost of the project has risen by Rs 5,000 crore from the earlier estimate of Rs 44,670 crore to Rs 49,520 crore.
Once the projects are approved by the board, they will be sent to NITI Ayog and Cabinet for approval. Although various ways of financing the project were dicussed during the meeting, the state and government will split all incurred costs equally.
Fadnavis also suggested the creation of a separate committee of state officials to coordinate with Railways and ensure speedy completion of projects under MUTP-3A.
Key proposals discussed during the meeting:
* Purchase of 210 air-conditioned locals for the suburban network at a cost of Rs 17,859 crore.
* Elevated fast-track project between CST and Panvel at an estimated cost of Rs 12,331 crore and a new suburban corridor between Panvel-Virar, both of which are already sanctioned.
* Extension of Harbour line between Goregaon and Borivli at a cost of Rs 745 crore.
* Addition of two more lines between Borivali and Virar for bifurcating long distance and local trains at a cost of Rs 1,963 crore.
* Addition of two more lines between Kalyan and Badlapur and one line between Kalyan and Asangaon at a cost of Rs 1,387 and Rs 161 crore respectively.
* Implementation of new Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system on Harbour line to cut down on time gap between services and increase frequency.
* Upgradation and modernisation of 16 suburban stations – Goregaon, Virar, Lower Parel, Khar, Sion, GTB Nagar, Chembur, Wadala, Mira Road, Ghatkopar, Dombivli, Mulund, Bhandup, Nalasopara, Bhayander, and Shahad – at a cost of Rs 946 crore.
Maharashtra and Railways are already working on projects worth Rs 10,900 crore under MUTP-3, which entails the procurement of 47 AC locals, doubling of Panvel-Karjat route, quadrupling of Virar-Dahanu route and Airoli-Kalwa elevated link.
A Rs 19,500 crore Bandra-Virar elevated corridor was also a part of the earlier plan but was later shelved.
