Maharashtra govt okays railway projects worth Rs 54,777 crore

The state government approved the Rs 54,777 crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) 3-A on Wednesday, taking the city one more step closer to 210 new AC locals, a fast corridor on CSMT-Panvel Harbour line and new corridors on Panvel-Virar and Goregaon-Borivali Harbour line.

With this, long-distance trains will be segregated  to five to six lines between Borivali and Virar, a fourth line will come up on the Kalyan-Asangaon stretch, and three to four new lines will be laid on the Kalyan-Badlapur stretch. Apart from this, Rs 5,928 crore will be spent on a new signalling system on Central and Western Railways. The MUTP-3A will now be sent to Niti Aayog for further clearances and finally to the Centre. “We expect approvals from both of them within the next couple of months. The state government’s approval was a vital breakthrough in taking this project ahead,” said an official.