Rail Budget 2103: Rs 1,650 crore boost to aid Parel, Harbour Line projects

MUMBAI: While there were mixed reactions in Mumbai to Union railway minister Pawan Bansal's budget for 2013-14, with commuter groups criticizing the allocations, zonal railway officials have expressed satisfaction with the outlays coming Mumbai's way. The biggest allocation in this years' budget is the Rs 1,650 crore given under the Metropolitan Transport Project (MTP) to Central Railway (CR).Authorities said this will help major projects in the Mumbai region, including at Parel and on the Harbour Line. On Western Railway (WR), the biggest news is the arrival of the AC suburban train, though the funds were allocated last year.
Mumbai's 76 lakh suburban passengers can also look forward to 72 new services on CR and WR, though they may also remember that 75 services were announced last year while only 59 have been introduced so far.
A major part of CR's MTP funds (approximately Rs 850 crore) will go towards the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-II), some of which involves WR. MUTP-II's cost is shared equally by the railways and state government.
The Parel suburban terminus has been envisaged as Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) and CR officials decided that it would be difficult to take the fifth and sixth lines on CR's main suburban line upto CST. The CST-Currey Road stretch has legal buildings and attempts to shift them have met with legal resistance, said officials. The Parel suburban terminus will help decongest Dadar station as CR plans to shift locals starting and ending at Dadar to Parel. The fifth and sixth lines ending at Parel will help increase capacity on the local and outstation corridors.
On the Harbour Line, more funds have been given for ongoing work on tracks from Nerul and Belapur to Uran in Navi Mumbai (they will go through Seawoods). The 27km line should provide much-needed connectivity to the rapidly developing region around JNPT and Nhava-Sheva as well as the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport. There will also be extension of platforms and other ancillary works to accommodate 12-car services on Harbour Line and the extension of the line on the western side from Andheri to Goregaon.
A senior CR official said, "The Rs 1,650 crore is huge compared to the Rs 487 crore allocated under MTP last year. The budget may be short on announcing new projects, but it will help initiate work on the Parel terminus, besides speeding up the introduction of 12-car rakes on the Harbour line, extending the Harbour line to Goregaon and laying a fifth line between Mahim and Santa Cruz."
Separately, Rs 78 crore have been given for passenger amenities in the CR zone, up from Rs 48 crore last year, and Rs 74.9 crore in the WR zone, up from Rs 61 crore last year. Officials said a majority of these funds will be used in Mumbai. On WR, Rs 2.5 crore will be spent at Mumbai Central to extend platforms 1 to 4 for 24-coach long-distance trains. Platform 6 will be turned into an island platform and a home platform (adjacent to the road) will be built on its eastern side for Rs 20 lakh.
Of the 72 new services, 50 are on WR and 22 on CR. The CR ones include 10 between Andheri and Panvel and 3 each between Kalyan and Karjat, and Kalyan and Kasara. Seventy-two new rakes were announced, though only 10 to 12 will arrive in 2013-14.
The 12-coach suburban AC train, costing of Rs 4 crore per coach, will have trials in June-July. Twelve services are planned daily for the Churchgate-Andheri and Churchgate-Borivli stretches. The train will accommodate 400 commuters per coach and have no first-class or luggage compartments.
One of the busiest CR stations, Thane, will get a Rs 2 crore upgrade. Officials also plan upgrades at the Bandra and Lokmanya Tilak terminuses, an increase in ATVMs, several new FOBs (including a Rs 6.5 crore one at Borivli), escalators and the augmentation of far-flung lines.
Rs 110 crore will also come from the World Bank-funded MUTP-II for a trespassing control project, which will have escalators, elevators and FOBs at Dadar, Kandivli, Borivli, Bhayander, Vasai Road and Nalasopara on WR, and Dadar, Kurla, Kanjurmarg, Thane, Thakurli and Kurla on CR.
Kailash Verma, general secretary of commuter body Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh said, "The suburban commuters have been given a short shrift by the railway minister. We were expecting capacity addition in the local services by converting 12 rake trains into 15 rakes and nine rakes into 12 rakes."
Budget 2013
Rail Budget 2013
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