Railways Needs Rs 1,000 Cr To Run 15-coach Train On Both Tracks

The Western Railway needs to invest close to Rs 1,000 crore if it wants to run 15-coach trains from Churchgate to Virar on both the tracks. According to a RITES report, to run the train from Virar to Churchgate the railways will have to spend Rs 108 crore and to extend it to the slow corridor it will have to spend Rs 497 crore.

The WR introduced a 15-coach train in November 2009. At present the train halts only at Dadar, Andheri, Borivali, Vasai and Virar stations. There are plans to include Mira Road, Nalasopara, Bandra and Bhayander stations in the route. This would require major infrastructure works like extension of platforms. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is learnt to have given its nod for financing the extension of platforms. “But until the train is extended till Churchgate or Grant Road people cannot avail of the benefits of this train,” said a senior railway officer.

The small section between Grant Road and Churchgate station would require maximum expenditure. Churchgate has no space for further extension and even if that takes place, the WR will have to skip the Marine Drive station as the stations are in proximity.

Also, land has to be acquired for preparing substations, remodelling of yards and stabling lines to accommodate the new trains. For running a 15-coach train on fast track, municipal land along the MK Road needs to be acquired. In case of slow track, 150 metres of gymkhana building (the report has no reference of the gymkhana land that needs to be acquired) and a playground along the tracks has to be acquired for providing stabling line at Marine Drive.

“There is already a proposal of developing Grant Road terminus, so land acquisition is not an issue there unlike Churchgate. Only issue pertaining to Grant Road would be extension of platforms and passenger dispersal.” said the officer. “But remodelling of Grant Road station is the costliest because it needs infrastructure building to a large extent. The civil work would alone require some Rs 62.45 crore while stabling lines would require another Rs 30 crore. But a whopping Rs 240 crore would be required for buying EMU coaches.”


Source: indianexpress.com