The creation of the terminus will allow the CR to start and terminate trains there as well as run more trains to heavily-patronised routes towards the south of the country.
The much-delayed Panvel terminus and train maintenance facility project took off after being on the drawing board for almost a decade, with the Central Railway coming out with a Rs38 crore tender to build small bridges, subways and platforms as part of the project.
The creation of the terminus will allow the CR to start and terminate trains there as well as run more trains to heavily-patronised routes towards the south of the country.
The project includes coaching facilities, railway term for the infrastructure that is required to maintain and clean outstation trains and make them fit for an onward journey.
Two years ago, CR's construction department, which will be shepherding the project, had pegged the cost at around Rs110 crore, though this is bound to take a northward revision, said officials. When the project was first envisaged by the CR in early 2007, the cost was set at around Rs22 crore.
As per CR's current schedule, tenders will be opened by the first week of September and work on these items is expected to be completed in two years. "If all goes according to plan, the terminus should be up and running in three years," said a top-ranking CR official.
Officials agreed that it was a perfect case of how delay and sloth in project implementation could take the cost several times higher that the original estimation.
"It will have two platforms which will be used to start and terminate trains. However, lack of space at Panvel means this terminus will not be as big as Kurla terminus. But it will still give the CR a lot of leeway to start new trains. Because Panvel is a major hub for suburban trains and is also the nearest station to the proposed Navi Mumbai airport, this terminus will be of strategic importance," said a CR official.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}