MUMBAI: Work on the
third line of railway tracks between
Wadala and
Kurla, which will only handle freight train traffic from Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), has been delayed due to
slums.
The Nitin Gadkari-led ministry of shipping and ports will push the state government to expedite rehabilitation of the slum-dwellers. The rehabilitation has been entrusted to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (
MMRDA).
A senior
Central Railway official said, “If work is expedited, we can see improvement on the
Harbour line corridor. As of now, the movement of
goods trains holds up traffic for 15-20 minutes.”
An average of six goods trains operate in the Up and Down direction. Most operate after midnight but sometimes goods trains are allowed to operate during non-peak hours in the afternoon.
An MbPT official said, “Commissioning of the tracks is necessary as goods traffic is expected to increase. We will need to run more trains, for which this exclusive corridor is necessary.”
The third line will come up on the east side of traffic and will be elevated at Kurla, thus segregating the Harbour and goods line corridors.
Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Nagar station will also have to be revamped to make way for the third line.
The 5.66km Kurla-Wadala line will merge with the western dedicated freight corridor that links the Jawaharlal Nehru Port.
A CR official said, “More than 1,050 structures have been identified for rehabilitation. But MMRDA has been unable to shift even 200 families. The tracks cannot be laid unless the land is cleared.” The official added, “Any disruption in services coinciding with movement of goods trains aggravates the situation on the Harbour line.”
Unlike Western Railway and CR, the Harbour line operates only slow trains on one corridor. In case of a failure, the entire system shuts down. An official said, “On CR and WR, commuters can travel by a slow or fast train if either corridor is affected. But the Harbour line does not have that option.”
Delay in the rehabilitation of project-affected people has earned the wrath of the Union government, as the project is being monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The line was to be commissioned in 2014 after a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2011. The delay has meant that the load of road traffic has not been shifted to the tracks.