250 new local services in coming five years
41 new projects, 5877 km new rail network
Redevelopment of 128 Railway Stations
New Delhi : The Union Railway Budget for 2024-25 has allocated Rs 15,940 crore for the State of Maharashtra. The budget includes 41 new railway projects in the state, a new railway network of 5877 km, 250 new local train services in the next five years and the redevelopment of 128 railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw through video conferencing. While briefing the concerned officers of the state and Divisional Railway General Managers, he said that a provision of Rs 15,940 crore has been made for the development of railways in Maharashtra. With the help of this fund, Mumbai will get 250 new local train services in the next five years, he said, adding that the journey of Mumbaikars will be convenient and easy and through all these projects, the railway services in Maharashtra will be get a boost and necessary improvements will be made for the convenience of the passengers.
Major railway projects in the country
At present, 41 projects with a total length of 5,877 km worth Rs 81,580 crore are underway in Maharashtra. As many as 128 stations in the state will be redeveloped under the AMRUT scheme. The state has achieved 100% railway electrification and 180 km of new lines are being laid every year. Speaking on the occasion, Vaishnaw said that the total railway investment in the State is Rs. 1.3 lakh crore with significant allocation for various projects in this year’s budget.
Mumbai’s suburban train services
Currently, 1,819 local trains are running on the Central Railway line and 1,394 on the Western Railway line in Mumbai. It carries 40 lakh and 35 lakh passengers respectively. Meanwhile, the fifth and sixth railway lines will provide separate routes for local and mail-express trains with Kurla and CSMT as news terminuses. With the addition of 250 new local trains in the next five years, the project aims to decongest and provide easy commute for Mumbaikars, he added.
New Mail-Express trains and terminals
Vaishnaw said that Ministry of Railways is planning to start 50-100 new Mail-Express trains from Mumbai. He informed that new terminuses have been proposed from Mulund, Parel and Thakurli on Central Railway and near Vasai Road on Western Railway. He informed that about 7.5 acres of land has been acquired for this mega terminus project. In addition, capacity augmentation projects as part of Mumbai Urban Transport Project 2A, 3A and 3A are being undertaken by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation. The discussion also included future planning for development of alternate coaching terminuses at various stations like Khadki, Hadapsar, Shivaji Nagar and Urali Kanchan in Pune.
Improving rail services
The Union Minister also informed about the projects undertaken to ease the overall travel of passengers, especially in the Mumbai division. It will add about 250 new local services and 100 mail express trains in the next five years. This will boost the development of multiple mega terminals across the state and the development of various regions of Maharashtra in the future, he added.
There is a gap of 180 seconds (3 minutes) between the local trains running in Mumbai. The goal is to reduce the distance from 180 seconds to 150 seconds (2.5 minutes). The reduction is expected to increase the number of train services, which will ease the daily commute for the residents of Mumbai.
