New rail corridor connecting districts in Navi Mumbai and Palghar on Panvel-Vasai route in pipeline

Mumbai: Even as the Prime Minister dedicated the two lines on the Thane-Diva sector to the nation on Friday, a new rail corridor connecting Navi Mumbai and Palghar on the Panvel-Vasai route is in the pipeline, railway sources said. On February 18, at a brief informal meeting in a local train, the rail authorities from Mumbai and the chairman of the Railway Board, V K Tripathi, hinted that the Rs 1,087-crore new rail corridor would be rekindled. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was travelling by the same train on the Thane-Diva route to dedicate the service to Mumbai Metropolitan Region residents. The new corridor will take four years to complete and 11 additional stations are proposed to be developed and air-conditioned locals will operate on the corridor.

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is looking at augmenting the existing corridor between Vasai and Panvel via Diva. On Friday, senior MRVC officials said they were in touch with the Railway Board and the project was in the primary stages of planning.

As per the project, the MRVC has proposed to instal automatic signalling on the section between Vasai and Diva and build a 4.5-km-long chord line between Nilaje and Kopar, which will cut train travel between Vasai and Panvel by around 15 to 20 minutes.

The MRVC had initially planned to build a new suburban rail corridor between Virar and Panvel at an approximate cost of Rs 6,500 crore under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3A (MUTP 3A). However, owing to lack of funds, the project was shelved. There is no clarity on whether this project will be merged with MUTP-3 or 3A or will be undertaken as a solo project.