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Fractured mandate in Maharashtra elections trips Railways' progress express

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The fractured mandate in the Maharashtra assembly elections has made one group in Mumbai really unhappy -- the railway babus. Buoyed by the quick clearance of railway projects, like the much-delayed Rs 1000 crore Kurla-CST 5th and 6th line works, ever since the Narendra Modi-led NDA government took over in May, officials in the city were expecting a repeat of the same had the BJP come in power with a majority.

These officials claim that with almost no big-ticket projects having started in the city or for that matter state in the past one decade, the railway system is walking on thin ice.

"The suburban system is just about running with bare minimum facilities for commuters. Several lines within the state, like Konkan Railways, are severely choked. Unless projects take off in the next couple of years, commuters of this state and Mumbai in particular will be in deep trouble by 2020. A majority government, especially of the BJP, since it is the ruling party at the Centre as well, would have been able to kick-start these projects," said a top-level official.

The biggest project of them all, that a majority government would have had the 'guts' and the 'will' to start was the Rs 52,000 crore phase 3 of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), say officials.

"These are a slew of projects that was supposed to rejuvenate suburban commuting in the Mumbai metropolitan region. It was supposed to be built between 2011 and 2031 -- a 20-year period. The saddest part is that even in 2014, the process for in-principle approvals has not yet started," said the official.

Other officials pointed out the comatose state of the CST-Panvel high-speed air-conditioned elevated suburban line as well as the Oval Maidan-Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor, both set to cost Rs 20,000 crore each. "These two projects are highly required to firstly de-congest the suburban line over the new few decades and also to give a new segment – upper end AC travel -- to the country's financial capital. Unfortunately, not these has been not an inch of progress since 2012 because the state and Centre can't see eye to eye," said an official.

The doubling and electrification of the heavily-congested Konkan Railways, almost 80 per cent of whose tracks run through the scenic Maharashtra coast, is another project that officials believe would have got a major boost if the state and Centre work together.
"A fractured mandate puts back any state as far as progress is concerned. In a vital state like Maharashtra, it can be very problematic," said the official.

Big projects gather dust:

The mega Rs 52,000 crore Mumbai suburban plan:
2011- 2021: Rs 20,013 crore
2021-2026: Rs 17,304 crore
2026-2031: Rs 14,850 crore
Total: Rs 52,167 crore

The new tracks and trains (12 coaches) envisaged:
2011-2021: 202. 5 km of tracks and 107 rakes
2021-2026: 149.4 km and 96 rakes
2026-2031: 165.8 km and 63 rakes
Total: 517.7 km of tracks and 266 rakes

Future projects:
Virar-Vasai-Diva-Panvel corridor: Rs 6,120 crore
3rd and 4th lines between Virar-Dahanu: Rs 4,524 crore
Harbour line between Goregaon-Borivali: Rs 896 crore
5th and 6th lines between Borivali-Virar: Rs 2,860 crore
3rd and 4th lines between Kalyan-Kasara: Rs 4,644 crore
3rd and 4th lines between Kalyan-Karjat: Rs 3,176 crore

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