The railways has finally woken up to the fact that several of the routes that bring passengers into the city and take them out have long got saturated and in the years to come they will require additions. The process, trapped in random railway budget announcements, red-tape as well as poor finances, is now taking small steps from the drawing board to the ground.

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Last week, the construction department of Central Railway called in bids for the studies to be conducted for the proposed 3rd line between Pune and Lonavla as well as the envisaged 4th line between Karjat and Lonavla. The study for the first work — the 3rd line between Pune and Lonavla, is what the railways calls the 'Final Location Survey' and is a process that lays down the final route on which tracks will be laid.

The railways intends to spend around Rs31 lakh for the prupose and work is expected to begin once tenders open in the last week of September. This work, as and when it takes off follwing the study, will see a new 64 kilometre line between Pune and Lonavla at a total cost of Rs800 crore. It is expected to increase the number of suburban trains as well as passengers between the two places. The railway budget had allotted a sum of Rs18.29 crore for the project for the current financial year.

The second work is the Preliminary Engineering cum Traffic Survey (PECT) of the 4th line between Karjat and Lonavla. It will cost the railways around Rs3 lakh, a third of the Rs10.9 lakh allotted for it in the railway budget announced by minister Suresh Prabhu on February 26 this year. Studies for a 3rd line between Kalyan and Karjat are also under way, said officials.

"It is now the thinking of the railways that studies for entire routes be done quickly and at the same time so that work can begin on them if they are found feasible. There is no point delaying these kind of studies. They cost a few lakhs, but if done in time, save several crores of rupees once the construction work begins," said a top railway official.Railway budget announcements for studies for new lines in Mumbai metropolitan region:1) Additional suburban line between Virar-Diva-Panvel: 65km at a cost of Rs9.75 lakh2) New line for provision of fast corridor on harbour line between CST-Panvel at a cost of Rs9 lakh3) New line between Pen-Thal: 26km at a cost of Rs3.9 lakh4)New line between proposed new airport at New Mumbai and Thane: 60 km at a cost of Rs9 lakh5) Kalyan-Karjat 3rd line: 46km at a cost of Rs.18 lakh