Mumbai suburban railway’s most ambitious rejuvenation plan — the third phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project— got started recently with Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) calling for engineering design for three major components. These are the construction of two more lines between Virar and Dahanu, the creation of a two-line suburban corridor between Panvel and Karjat and a 4km elevated two-line corridor between Airoli and Kalwa.
The MRVC has asked firms to come forward with detailed engineering designs as well as project management consultancy for the three works by December. A loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for MUTP phase 3 was being processed.
The Virar-Dahanu 3rd and 4th lines will allow to speed up long-distance trains between the two stations which is not possible now because the existing two lines are shared by suburban as well as goods trains. The second is the Panvel Karjat suburban line will cut the distance between CST and Karjat from 100 kilometres to just 77 kilometres. The third project elevated Airoli-Kalwa connector, an elevated rail corridor about 4km in length, will allow more people to reach Navi Mumbai from areas like Kalyan and beyond without putting added pressure on the already congested Thane station.