CR hastens plan for fast harbour line corridor
The Central Railways (CR) has fast tracked the proposal of creating a fast corridor on harbour line between Mumbai CST and Panvel. While CR has already cleared 70 per cent of the land, CIDCO has to clear the remaining land.
The proposed elevated harbour line corridor is expected to come up by 2019 and is supposed to run airconditioned trains and cut down the travel time from the existing 75 minutes to a maximum of 35-40 minutes as the alignment would have only 10 stations. The officials said the estimated cost for the project is between Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 14,000 crore. “The basic idea is to help a commuter arriving at Panvel junction to be able to reach south Mumbai from the Pune-Mumbai expressway in 35 minutes,” a senior CR official said.
A brainchild of Central Railways general manager Sunil Kumar Sood, the coordination meeting where the fast corridor was discussed, seeks to iron out issues between the state government, the BMC, the MMRDA, CIDCO and the CR and are being held every Tuesday for the past two months.
The 10 halts that are being worked out will be in co-ordination with the existing suburban, metro or mono networks. The new terminal for the service will come up towards the east of CST near Carnac Bunder side.
However, CIDCO has raised certain issues in Navi Mumbai as the planned railway line passes along the existing structures in some areas.
“At Seawoods station, for example, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has proposed the fast track corridor at grade passing through Seawood Station. This will reduce one platform of the Nerul-Uran corridor to a single discharge facility,” the official said.
“Land requirement put up by MRVC to the south of Kharghar Railway Station needs to be decided. The location of the platforms in Panvel Terminus for the fast track corridor also needs to be decided,” he added.
Rakesh Saksena, managing director of MRVC, said, “There are a few issues with land in Navi Mumbai. The project will also require support from the state government. The state needs to decide how it wants to implement the project. It needs to decide whether it wants Foreign Direct Investment or any other mode as it involves huge cost. However, it is a feasible project.”
The proposed elevated harbour line corridor is expected to come up by 2019 and is supposed to run airconditioned trains and cut down the travel time from the existing 75 minutes to a maximum of 35-40 minutes as the alignment would have only 10 stations. The officials said the estimated cost for the project is between Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 14,000 crore. “The basic idea is to help a commuter arriving at Panvel junction to be able to reach south Mumbai from the Pune-Mumbai expressway in 35 minutes,” a senior CR official said.
A brainchild of Central Railways general manager Sunil Kumar Sood, the coordination meeting where the fast corridor was discussed, seeks to iron out issues between the state government, the BMC, the MMRDA, CIDCO and the CR and are being held every Tuesday for the past two months.
A real-time survey at the coordination meeting has revealed that the project can easily be taken ahead as 70 per cent of the air space required for the 48.3 km long corridor that will be elevated for 31.6 km of the route belongs to the Central Railways itself. However, 20 per cent of the land has to be taken from the Mumbai Port Trust. The corridor will also be at grade for 12.4 km, where it will run parallel to the existing harbour line. The corridor passes along the eastern side of the existing harbour line track more or less from Wadala till Reay Road. After Reay Road, the line skirts the PD’Mello Road into the Mumbai Port Trust area.
The 10 halts that are being worked out will be in co-ordination with the existing suburban, metro or mono networks. The new terminal for the service will come up towards the east of CST near Carnac Bunder side.
However, CIDCO has raised certain issues in Navi Mumbai as the planned railway line passes along the existing structures in some areas.
“At Seawoods station, for example, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has proposed the fast track corridor at grade passing through Seawood Station. This will reduce one platform of the Nerul-Uran corridor to a single discharge facility,” the official said.
“Land requirement put up by MRVC to the south of Kharghar Railway Station needs to be decided. The location of the platforms in Panvel Terminus for the fast track corridor also needs to be decided,” he added.
Rakesh Saksena, managing director of MRVC, said, “There are a few issues with land in Navi Mumbai. The project will also require support from the state government. The state needs to decide how it wants to implement the project. It needs to decide whether it wants Foreign Direct Investment or any other mode as it involves huge cost. However, it is a feasible project.”
