Central Railway's CST-Panvel fast corridor faces hurdles

Mumbai division of CR says that the project cannot be executed as it may cause frequent disruptions in suburban train operations

The Central Railway's (CR) much-awaited Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus(CST)-Panvel fast corridor has hit a roadblock as the divisional administration has found few hurdles in implementing the project and has expressed its concerns to top officials.

The Mumbai division of CR, which would supervise the project, recently wrote a letter to the General Manager of the CR saying that the project cannot be executed as it may cause frequent disruptions in suburban train operations.

With this move, the plan to kickstart the ambitious project, worth over 14,000 crore, by the end of next month has hit a roadblock.

The 48.3 km long CST-Panvel fast corridor was first proposed in the 2009-10 Railway Budget. It will be elevated for around 31 km of the route from south Mumbai to Vashi and for next 12.4 km, it will run parallel to the existing lines. The corridor will also require construction of a 4.3 km bridge over Thane creek.

A senior railway official said, "Yes, this is right that the Mumbai division of CR has apprised the General Manager of CR about a few big impediments to execute the project."

"Out of the two major hurdles, the first is that during the execution of this infrastructural project, we would require unprecedented megablocks, that would throw suburban operations out of track. Also, it would be extremely difficult to construct the stations on the fast corridor over the already existing stations under strict caution," he said.

He further refused to divulge details of the letter.

The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, working with the state government which is responsible for improvement of infrastructure of Mumbai suburban railway system, had recently submitted the final plan for the corridor to the Railway Board following six years of deliberations.

When asked, a Central Railway spokesperson said, "We are trying to iron out all the issues, because it's a major infrastructural project that would give a big boost to our transportation system in the corridor."