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Has Mumbai Benefitted From Indian Railway Budget 2012 – 2013
The 2012 – 2013 Indian Railway Budget has been generous to Mumbai. The proposals related to Mumbai and its surrounding areas are as follows:
- 75 new Bombay local suburban services will be introduced on the Mumbai Western Railway (up to Dahanu) and Mumbai Central Railway lines. There are indications that the Mumbai’s local Western Railway will now extend up to Dahanu.
- Air conditioned trains or rakes will be introduced on the Bombay Western Railway and Central Railway corridors.
- Faster trains will be introduced which will reduce travel time. This is possible because of the conversion to AC from DC.
- 12 rake Mumbai suburban local trains (instead of 9 rakes) will be started on the Mumbai Harbour line. Tendering process will start in 2 months and the entire project is expected to cost Rs 800 crore.
- The 2012 – 2013 Indian Railway budget has proposed elevated and underground high speed AC railway corridor from Churchgate to Virar and CST (VT) to Panvel. Both these will be in the PPP mode.
- Feasibility for an elevated high speed railway corridor from CST to Kalyan has also been proposed.
- Panvel will become a Major railway hub for outstation trains. This will reduce the pressure on Mumbai city stations such as CST, Mumbai Central, Bandra terminus and Dadar. The Panvel station will be especially beneficial to travelers living in the suburbs of Mumbai. The Rs 800 crore project envisages 10 outstation train platforms with the first 2 platforms coming up in the next one year.
- DC to AC conversion of the Bombay Suburban Central Railway line will be completed by March 2013. A key benefit of this is that trains can run faster (max 100 kmph as against 80 kmph under DC), which will lead to more trains. It also helps the railways reduce transmission losses and reduces energy consumption.
- Mumbai Urban Transport Project III (MUTP III) has been flagged off. New suburban line between Virar, Vasai, Borivali, Diva, Panvel has been given approval. In all 8 projects have been identified. Total project cost is Rs 52,000 crore.
- There will be increased connectivity between JNPT/Nava Sheva (South-East of Navi Mumbai) to Panvel (North-East of Mumbai) and Virar (North of Mumbai). East-West connectivity between the Northern suburbs of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai will be improved. The Virar-Panvel line is 72 kms long.
- Travel distance for the Izzat scheme has been extended from 100 km to 150 km. The monthly rate continues to be Rs 25. People who earn below Rs 1,500 are entitled to avail of the Izzat scheme.
- Signal network will be modernized over 5 years.
- Kalamboli will get a Hi-tech coach maintenance facility (maintenance, safety checks, cleaning, etc). This 400 crore project will employ 500 people.
- Railway land around the Oshiwara station will be commercially developed to produce revenue for the Railways. On successful completion, similar commercial development will be done at Elphinstone Road, Parel, Mulund and Kanjur Marg.
- Andheri station will get 6 new escalators and Goregaon station will get 7 new escalators. On the Central line 10 new escalators will be installed at Dadar, Kurla, Ghatkopar and Dombivali.
- Study of the High Speed Railway Corridor (HSRC) between Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad is complete and Indian Railway is now working on financing this project.
- The Indian Railway has initiated a study on a proposed new line from the new airport in Navi Mumbai to Thane.
- New Mumbai Jhansi Express that will run weekly.
- New weekly Kamakhya-Lokmanya Tilak (T) AC Express via Katihar, Mughalsarai, Itarsi
- New Bandra (T)-Bhuj AC Express (Tri-Weekly)
- New Dadar (T)- Tirunelveli Express (Weekly) via Roha, Coimbatore, Erode
- New Bandra (T)-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express (Weekly) via Palanpur, Phulera
- New Bikaner-Bandra (T) Express (Weekly) via Jodhpur,Marwar,Ahmedabad
- New Gandhidham-Bandra (T) Express (Weekly) via Morbi
- Extension of Dadar-Yesvantpur Express (train number 11017/11018) to Puducherry (3 days) via Jolarpettai-Katpadi-Villupuram & to Tirunelveli (3 days) via Dharmapuri-Erode
- Frequency of Mumbai Jabalpur express (train number 12187, 12188) have been increased to 3 times a week.
- Frequency of Chandigarh-Bandra(T) (train number 22451/22452) Express increased from 1 to 2 days a week
Well Done CM Prithviraj Chavan for Mumbai’s Railway
Many of the Mumbai related proposals that were presented by the Indian Railway minister, Dinesh Trivedi, had been pending for years. On March 2, 2012, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, along with an all party MP delegation, held a special meeting with the railway minister to discuss Maharashtra and Mumbai specific railway proposals. Mr Dinesh Trivedi accepted many of the proposals put forth by Prithviraj Chavan and they found their way in the railway budget.
Number of Local Suburban Railway Trains in Mumbai
As on March, 2012, the number of Mumbai’s local subarban trains or services is as follows:
- Number of trains on Mumbai’s Local Central Railway line = 1573 (of these 208 are from Trans Harbour-Panvel-Thane-Vashi)
- Number of trains on Mumbai’s Local Harbour Railway line = 580 (of these 150 are from CST to Bandra/Andheri)
- Number of trains on Mumbai’s Local Western Railway line = 1206
RELATED ARTICLES:
Latest Indian Railway Fares for Mumbai Suburban and Outstation Trains
Impact of Indian Railway Budget 2013-2014 on Mumbai Train Services
Accidents and Deaths on Mumbai’s Suburban Trains
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