Far-off suburbs slated to get better network

The boom in Mumbai metropolitan region can only be sustained if it has the associated commuting infrastructure, and therefore, the proposed MUTP-3A and MUTP-3 focus on extending the rail network to suburbs such as Virar, Panvel, Karjat, Kasara and other distant localities .

“It is a fact that areas develop when rail lines are laid. Through these new rail lines, we will expand the network which would consequentially reduce crowding in trains,” said a senior railway official.

To begin with, MUTP-3A proposes a fast corridor on the CSMT-Panvel harbour line worth Rs 12,331 crore; a new railway corridor across Panvel-Virar at Rs 7,072 crore to link western suburbs to Navi Mumbai; and additional rail lines between Goregaon-Borivali, Kalyan-Asangaon and Kalyan-Badlapur.

The Rs 10,947 crore MUTP-3 that was approved in the last rail budget focusses on expanding facilities in the MMR.

This includes quadrupling of the Virar-Dahanu line, a new corridor on the 60-km Panvel-Karjat stretch to connect more satellite towns, and an elevated corridor linking Airoli and Kalwa, which would take the burden off Thane.