PM to lay foundation stone in October for Mumbai's two elevated railway corridors costing Rs 34,000 cr

Civic polls will take place in Mumbai by Feb 2017 and observers are saying that BJP intends to kick-start its poll campaign with these launches

The foundation stone of two new commuter rail corridors, Churchgate to Virar and CST to Panvel, will be unveiled next month by the Prime Minister.

The former is a Rs 23,000-crore project. The latter is a Rs 11,000-crore one.  

These two projects are part of the state government's ambitious plan of a little over Rs 1 lakh crore to strengthen Mumbai's transportation infrastructure.

Union railways minister Suresh Prabhu last week reviewed the status of the pre-project development exercise. He and state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently said investors from abroad have evinced interest in providing long-term low interest loans for these two corridors.

The 48.3-km one between CST and Panvel, along the existing central line, will be elevated for 31.6 km and run parallel to the existing lines for 12.4 km on the surface. Churchgate-Virar entails 63.3 km along the existing western line, approximately 42 km of elevated stretch, eight km underground and 12 km on grade.

A state government official confirmed that efforts are on to kickstart the project development by laying foundation stone in October. Both projects are expected to be completed in five years and will be implemented by a joint venture of the railways and the state government, through a Special Purpose Vehicle.

The official admitted that the railways ministry had planned to issue the request for qualification (RFQ) for two corridors by August 15. However, the railways ministry is expected to soon communicate revised schedule to the state government for inviting RFQ.

He recalled that the elevated railway corridor was first discussed in 2007 during the Congress-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra. However, it could not progress due to procedural and technical issues.