Sadananda Gowda approves Rs900-crore mega rail plan for city

The city's most ambitious plan, a Rs900-crore one, to build two extra lines between Kurla and CST to segregate long-distance and suburban lines, create the much-need Parel Terminus and an elevated Harbour line system at Kurla got the final approval from the railway ministry on Monday.

The plan was languishing in government files for almost a decade now.

Top-ranking officials who spoke to dna said the file, which was forwarded to railway minister Sadananda Gowda last week, got approved in its totality on Monday and the letter should reach Central Railway officials in a 'day or two'. Officials said the plan, with a requirement for land on either side of the railway territory, as well as rehabilitation of people who would be affected by the project, is 'tough but doable' and could take four-five years.

The project will see the extension of the 5th and 6th line from Kurla to CST. Currently the 5th and 6th line exist between Thane and Vidyavihar before moving into Kurla Terminus. The CST-Kurla extension will allow long-distance trains starting from CST to avoid the suburban lines all the way till Thane, majorly unclogging the suburban lines and allowing more suburban trains to be run. At the moment long-distance trains use the two fast lines between CST and Kurla creating bottlenecks during the morning and evening rush hours.

The big-ticket part of the project will be the creation of an elevated deck for three harbour line tracks at Kurla so that the harbour line trains don't get caught up, as they do currently, in the gridlock made by the ever-increasing goods trains as well as long-distance trains. "As per the plan, harbour line trains will take the elevated deck between Chunnabhatti and Tilaknagar and literally fly over goods and long-distance trains. With a growth of 9.22% annually, the Harbour line is possibly the country's fastest growing suburban segment so it requires upgrading sooner than later," said a top CR official.

The second major work would be the conversion of the Parel station into a full-fledged suburban terminal. It will get a new 408-metre platform on the western fringe, with the current line number one becoming a terminal line for trains originating and terminating at Parel. Moreover a slew of skywalks will connect the terminus to Carol bridge on the south, Elphinstone station on the west and the office-complex stretches along the west of Elphinstone station.