The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) on Friday laid the outline of Mumbai Urban Transport Project’s Phase 3A. With the new phase, the project cost has increased by ₹5,000 crore from the original estimate of ₹44,668 crore to ₹49,524 crore.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Chairman of Railway Board Ashwani Lohani and other senior officials were given an overview of the plan.
Senior railway officials said that both the Chief Minister and Railway Minister showed keen interest and approved the project. However, no official sanctions were made after the presentation. A senior railway official said, “During the meeting, ways to finance the project were discussed. The Chief Minister and Railway Minster are keen on exploring different financing modes to execute the project.”
Officials said that 50% of the project cost would be borne by the State government. Ways to integrate infrastructure projects in the city were also discussed during the meeting.
MUTP 3A will be the most expensive phase with two big projects: procurement of 210 air-conditioned EMU rakes (with Ist class and 2nd class sections) at an estimated cost of ₹ 17,859 crore, and the elevated fasttrack project between CST and Panvel at an estimated cost of ₹12,331 crore.
Other proposals include creating a new suburban corridor between Panvel and Virar, extending the Harbour Line till Borivali, and constructing new lines on existing corridors such as Line 5 and 6 between Borivali and Virar, Line 3 and 4 between Kalyan and Badlapur and a fourth line between Kalyan and Asangaon.
Railway officials said MUTP 3A will modernise the existing rail system.
