3 years after nod, Maharashtra finally gets down to groundwork on MUTP-3

'Regular meetings with the state government on land acquisition are going on. We are monitoring the progress and will start acquisition by the end of January,' said a senior MRVC official. After the completion of the project, passengers will be able to take suburban local trains between Panvel and Karjat railway stations without having to change trains at Thane station. Presently, commuters have to switch from the Central Railway's (CR) mainline to the Thane-Vashi trans-harbour line. Currently, there is only one railway line used for outstation and goods trains between Virar and Dahanu. Additional lines between these stations will allow railways to segregate suburban and outstation trains, resulting in an increase in the number of local services besides improving punctuality. Since the corridor is on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad trunk route, the rail line is highly saturated owing to outstation and goods trains. The MUTP-3 is to meet an estimated deadline of 2022. However, railway officials are sceptical about the completion of the projects within the deadline as the new railway line projects under MUTP-2 are yet to be completed. The major concern for MRVC officials are about generating funds. 'Funding at this stage will not be a concern for the project as there is a budgetary provision allocated. Pre-construction work for the major projects can start,' said the official Dailyhunthttps://anotepad.com/notes/5i8d9e