500% profit for railways on Vashi line

Ever heard of a rail surcharge beating the project cost by a mile? Look no further than the Vashi Creek bridge in Navi Mumbai.

An RTI plea has revealed that the construction cost of the Vashi Creek bridge was Rs44 crore, but the authorities have collected over Rs264 crore as surcharge over the years.

Commuters travelling by the Harbour Line beyond Mankhurd have been paying a surcharge on their tickets since the Mankhurd-Belapur railway line, a joint venture between the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) and the railways, opened for traffic in 1992.

The additional charge ranges between Rs2 and Rs6 for a single first-class and second-class journey, and between Rs80 and Rs200 on monthly first-class and second-class season passes.

The RTI reply stated that the surcharge will be recovered until the financial liability of the government and the corporation is fully discharged.

The query has revealed that a sum of Rs264.84 crore was paid by the railways to the CIDCO from 1992-93 to 2010-11.

“Commuters from Navi Mumbai have been paying a surcharge for the last 19 years. How much more money should they be paying?” questioned activist Anil Galgali, who had filed the RTI.

MP from Navi Mumbai Sanjeev Naik said he had taken the issue up with the authorities and would approach a court, if necessary. “Railways officials told me that it was a policy decision to be taken at the government level and that they did not have any say in it.”

CR’s chief spokesperson Vidyadhar Malegaonkar said, “A levy cannot be just for a single bridge, but for the entire section of the rail line.” Cidco spokesperson Mohan Ninawe said the corporation had floated bonds for project construction and the surcharge was directed towards expenses like dividend payments.