The recent economic survey 2015-16 by the state government has brought to the fore the almost snail-like pace of railway projects in the city and state.
The recent economic survey 2015-16 by the state government has brought to the fore the almost snail-like pace of railway projects in the city and state. So much so, out of seven works under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project II that were announced and sanctioned as far back as 2008, not one has been completed.
In fact, not even the initial processes of two of them have begun. The projects include the 5th and 6th line between CST-Kurla, 5th and 6th line between Thane-Diva, 6th line between Mumbai Central-Borivali, extension of Harbour line from Andheri-Goregaon, running of 12 coach trains on Harbour line, procurement of 153 coaches on Harbour, and platform extension for 12 coach trains.
The CST-Kurla additional line is one of the two projects that has seen no progress at all; Thane-Diva additional line has reached 69 per cent completion with a deadline of March 2017; Mumbai Central-Borivali additional line has reached 17 per cent with the
deadline pushed from 2015 to 2019. Delay in these projects has been one of the reasons that both CR and WR have not been able to add new services in peak hour-peak direction for the past two years. “We no longer have the ability to add new services in the time-table but as of now, until the next three to four years, Mumbaikars will have to make peace with this,” said the official.
Speaking of the 5th and 6th lines, a senior railway official on condition of anonymity said, “These extra lines are basically a big oxygen tank for Mumbai’s lifeline. They will help separate local and outstation services and finally, allow us to run local trains unhindered. This will mean that we will be able to increase the number of services by at least a good 40 per cent than the current, but these corridors have been eight years and more in the making.”
On the bright side, Harbour trains from Andheri to Goregaon will be completed by June this year followed by platform extension to March 2017 but the most important phase of getting 153 coaches for the line is still mentioned as “work in progress”.
