Mumbai: The transfer of Navi Mumbai’s railway stations from CIDCO to Central Railway will also shift control over their commercial revenue streams, with Railways set to take over advertisement, hoarding and pay-and-park arrangements at the 14 stations from October 16. The move follows CIDCO’s formal handover of the stations to Central Railway on Friday, completing the transfer of all 17 stations developed by the planning agency.
Railways takes over 14 stations
The 14 stations handed over on August 14 include Vashi, Sanpada, Juinagar, Nerul, Seawoods-Darave-Karave, CBD Belapur, Kharghar, Mansarovar, Khandeshwar, Airoli, Rabale, Ghansoli, Koparkhairne and Turbhe. Central Railway will now be responsible for statutory operations, commuter safety, track and signalling maintenance and advertisement rights at these stations.
As part of the transition, CIDCO has been directed to hand over details of existing advertisement, hoarding and pay-and-park agreements by October 15, subject to finalisation of the mutually agreed land plan by September 30. From October 16, Central Railway will take over these commercial arrangements after issuing the required notices under the existing agreements.
Commercial rights move with stations
The commercial component is significant because CIDCO had developed several of these stations with commercial office complexes directly above, below or adjacent to the platforms. The model was designed to help cross-subsidise the substantial infrastructure costs involved in developing Navi Mumbai’s railway network.
The transfer therefore involves not only station buildings and operational assets but also associated commercial rights.
Three-decade infrastructure transition
The handover follows a coordination meeting held on May 15 at Chintan Hall in the Central Railway General Manager’s Office at CSMT, where it was decided that all 17 stations would be transferred within six months.
The first three stations — Targhar, Bamandongri and Kharkopar — were handed over on June 22. They form part of the Nerul/Belapur-Seawood-Uran Railway Project.
The remaining 14 stations were developed under three corridors — the Mankhurd-Belapur, Thane-Turbhe-Nerul/Vashi and Belapur-Panvel corridors.
The first stretch of the Mankhurd-Belapur corridor up to Vashi was commissioned in 1992, making the latest transfer the culmination of more than three decades of CIDCO's role in developing Navi Mumbai's railway infrastructure.
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Pending administrative formalities
However, the administrative transfer is not yet complete. CIDCO will hand over the mutually agreed land plans to Railways by September 30, while land lease agreements are scheduled to be executed by October 31.
Water and power agreements, along with the detailed sewage connection plan, are also to be handed over by October 31.
Existing CIDCO contracts for housekeeping, pay-and-use toilets and dewatering pumps will continue until September 30. Central Railway will take over these services from October 1.
With the transfer, Central Railway will gradually assume control over both the operational and commercial aspects of the stations, while the remaining land, lease and utility formalities are completed over the next two months.
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