After meticulously working for 15 years to build a 18-km stretch of tracks, the Central Railway’s Mumbai division has failed to meet the standards of the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) that has been inspecting the track work for two days.
The city’s new World Bank-funded rail corridor has failed the safety trials.
After meticulously working for 15 years to build a 18-km stretch of tracks, the Central Railway’s Mumbai division has failed to meet the standards of the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) that has been inspecting the track work for two days.
“The CRS has completed inspection of the new lines and suggested certain technical improvements to the line in the overhead equipment and signalling. The Mumbai division will undertake the improvements in the next two days and submit a completion report to the CRS, after which the lines will be thrown open,” Vidyadhar Malegaonkar, CR chief spokesperson told DNA.
The CRS is an independent body and falls under the ministry of civil aviation to maintain its independence from railways. It has taken more than 15 years for the 18-km stretch to complete due to several complications. Moreover, the lines yet need to be linked to the main lines at Kurla.
First conceived in 1995, the project is divided into two phases — phase I, Kurla-Bhandup (10km), was approved in 1995-96 at a cost estimate of Rs102.9 crore and phase II, Bhandup-Thane (7km), was approved in 1997-98 at a cost estimate of Rs56.79 crore.
The project has seen unprecedented delays with encroachers and other such problems and the cost escalating to Rs166 crore. The Kurla-Thane additional lines project is a part of the World Bank-funded MUTP. However, the railways have recently opened a 10-km stretch between Vikhroli and Thane for goods traffic.
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