Sufficient allocation for CR, WR in Budget this yr: Officials

The Central Railway as well as the Western Railway will not face fund crunch to execute projects this year as "sufficient" allocations have been made in Budget 2018-19, officials said today.
While the allocation for the Western Railway this year stands at Rs 5,802 crore, which is 31 per cent more than the previous year, the Central Railway has received Rs 4,619 crore for the new projects and passenger services, the officials said.
"Now, fund shortage will no longer will be a problem for the execution of projects," they said.
The pink book comprising the nitty-gritty of the railway projects and estimates was tabled in the Parliament today and it was then shared with the respective rail zones.

Mumbai is headquarters to zonal railways-- Central Railway and Western Railway-- and railway projects are executed and implemented by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), a joint venture of Railway ministry and state government.
WR General Manager A K Gupta said the budget has provided a bumper allocation for Mumbai suburban network so that long-awaited infrastructure projects can be taken up.

"Among the major works in the suburban network, 43 new FOBs at a sanctioned cost of Rs 450 crore, 372 escalators in WR and CR, extension of platforms between Andheri and Virar slow corridor to accommodate 15 car rakes, upgradation of coach maintenance depot at Bandra terminus, CCTV cameras for all suburban trains, have been sanctioned," he said.

Speaking about the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-3A, CMD of MRVC, R S Khurana, said, "Under the MUTP-3A project, that has been approved by the Ministry, work on the fast elevated corridor between CSMT-Panvel on Harbour Line, new suburban corridor between Panvel-Virar, 5th and 6th lines between Borivali-Virar, procurement of 210 AC EMU rakes, 4th line between Kalyan-Asangaon etc, will be taken up."
Khurana said these projects will be taken up keeping in view the future requirements of commuters in the Mumbai metropolitan region for the next 20 years.
CR Additional General Manager Vishal Agrawal said the Central Railway has received Rs 4,619 crore for the new projects and passenger amenities, which include new lines worth Rs 1,327 crore.

S K Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai) of CR said, "Mumbai division has been given 34 works. The division today issued Notice Inviting Tenders (NITs) for 17 works collectively worth Rs 419 crore, including 21 FOBs, level crossing gates.