City train network gets ₹1,101-cr from budget funds

MUMBAI: With elections coming up, Mumbai has been showered with mega funds to improve its suburban rail system. At ₹1,101 crore, the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) has been allotted 91% more funds than what it received in the last budget.

Maharashtra received ₹13,539 crore, a whopping 11 times more than what it got in 2009-14. The Maharashtra government is also to provide ₹1,101 crore to the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), a joint venture between the state and Indian Railways. This money will be used for new AC rakes, augmenting the rail network and passenger amenities at railway stations.

However, sources said the state govt was yet to pay close to ₹1,000 crore from previous funds. 2023-2024: ₹1,101 crore 2022-2023: ₹575 crore 2021-2022: ₹650 crore 2020-2021: ₹550 crore 2023-2024: ₹1,100 crore 2022-2023: ₹575 crore 2021-2022: ₹650 crore 2020-2021: ₹550 crore

Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli Vaijnath (250 km)

Wardha-Nanded via Yevatmal Pusad (270 km)

Solapur-Osmanabad via Tuljapur

(84 km)

Dhule-Nardana (50 km) Kalyan-Murbad via Ulhasnagar

(28 km)

Baramati-Lonand (54 km) Phaltan-Pandharpur (105 km)

“We will modernise and redevelop 123 stations in Maharashtra. As for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CMST), tenders will be opened by the end of March. The primary work has already begun,” said Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Some of the projects under MUTP 2 include building two

new lines on the CSMT-Kurla stretch and a 6th line between Borivali and Mumbai Central. MUTP-3 will fund the PanvelKarjat corridor and the AiroliKalwa elevated rail corridor and more lines on the Virar-Dahanu stretch.

The railways will also procure more than 250 AC rakes under

MUTP-3 and 3A. Subhash Chand Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, MRVC said that the body would strive to accelerate works where land acquisition was nearly complete. “The land acquisition process in MUTP 3A projects will also be put in motion,” he said. Western Railway’s ₹16,182 crore and Central Railway ₹10,600 crore granted by the budget will be spent on new rail lines, augmenting existing networks and constructing ROBs and subways.

Western Railway has received ₹1,320 crore for raising train speeds to 160 kmph/200 kmph on the existing New Delhi-Mumbai route, which will bring down travel time to 12 hours between the two cities. Likewise, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project received a massive fillip of ₹19,592 crore.

“The deadline for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train is August 2026,” added Vaishnaw.

MUMBAI

BREAK-UP FOR CITY

NEW LINES ON CR: ₹1,685 CR