Rs 54,777 cr budget is passed for rail projects

It comprises station development, pedestrian bridges, Wi-Fi, FOBs

For the development of the Suburban Railway network, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation has received the budget of Rs 54.777 crore for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3A. A senior official said the project comprises development of stations, pedestrian bridges, Wi-Fi, Talk Back, CCTV, escalator, raising a platform.

Following the Elphinstone road tragedy, railways have given sanction to record number of Foot Over Bridges. “We are going to execute around 43 FOBs. Also, of the total 372 escalators sanctioned for Mumbai, WR will get around 100,” said A K Gupta, GM, WR.

Total of 14 components mention under MUTP 3A corridor which comprises of the fast elevated corridor between CSMT-Panvel on harbour line, the new suburban corridor between Panvel-Virar, an extension of harbour line between Goregaon-Borivali, 5th and the 6th line between Borivali-Virar, station improvement, stabling lines and many more. Even though the budget was presented on February, details of the amounts sanctioned for various works were made public after the demands for grants (railways) for 2018-19 were tabled before the parliaments on Tuesday. A senior railway official said new suburban line enhance the accessibility of eastern MMR and induce its development. “The Panvel-Vasai-Virar suburban corridor will augment passenger capacity to a great extent in Mumbai providing crucial East-West connectivity,” said Vishal Agrawal, Assistant General Manager, CR

The spokesperson of MRVC said the proposal 5th and 6th line between Borivali to Virar is under construction. “It will provide independent slow and fast suburban corridors which will improve line capacity and resulting increase services,” said added RS Khurana, acting chairman, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation’s (MRVC).