Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Announces New East-West Rail Corridor To Connect Unserved Areas Of Maharashtra

Mumbai, Sep 3: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said a new east-west rail corridor announced in the budget is being designed to connect several unserved areas of Maharashtra and provide a major impetus to industrial and rural development in the state.

Addressing a function here via video link from Delhi to flag off the new CSMT-Sawantwadi Road Express, Vaishnaw said the proposed east-west corridor between Surat and Dankuni will include dedicated freight and passenger services, and provide connectivity to areas in western Maharashtra, Nashik and other regions.

East-west corridor connectivity plans

During a recent function in Pune, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had suggested bringing the eastern and western freight corridors together and connecting them with new industrial development zones. Keeping this in mind, the entire team worked on the proposal, Vaishnaw said.

"The east-west corridor is being designed in such a way that it will be able to connect many such areas of Maharashtra which have never been connected before. Now, all those areas will have connectivity," he said.

Vaishnaw further said the eastern and western Dedicated Freight Corridors had been completed and would significantly strengthen Maharashtra's industrial development by facilitating the movement of goods from Jawaharlal Nehru Port to northern, eastern and central parts of the country.

The completion of the freight corridors would also boost activity at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and strengthen industrial development in Mumbai and its surrounding areas, he said.

Mumbai suburban rail expansion

Referring to Mumbai's suburban railway network, Vaishnaw said around 3,200 local train services were currently operated in the city and increasing the number of services by about 10 per cent would improve passenger movement.

The Railways was undertaking systematic work to increase capacity, improve signalling and introduce new-generation suburban trains, he informed.

The minister said the Railways had ordered the Integral Coach Factory (Chennai) to manufacture 28 AC local trains, with the first train expected to enter production in 2027.

"By 2030, we will have our own 238 local trains," he said, adding that new-design, new-generation local trains would bring a major transformation to Mumbai's suburban railway system.

Vaishnaw said the increase in rolling stock, capacity and signalling would enable Mumbai to handle more suburban services and bring about a major change in the city's local train network by 2030.

Bullet train and festival services

He also highlighted the progress on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, saying that two tunnel boring machines were simultaneously working on the undersea tunnel section connecting the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai with Thane. The first section of the bullet train project is expected to open in 2027, he said.

The minister also said that 350 special trains would be operated during the upcoming Ganesh festival to meet the increased demand for travel to Konkan.

"If required, we will run 375 special trains," he said.

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New Konkan rail service launched

Vaishnaw was speaking at the inauguration of the new CSMT-Sawantwadi Road daily Express, which will improve direct rail connectivity between Mumbai and the Konkan region.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, minister Nitesh Rane and Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde were present on the occasion.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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