Maharashtra gets budget allocation of Rs 15,900 crore for railway development

Addition of local train services:

Mumbai’s suburban railway network, which operates 3,213 trains daily, is set to see a significant boost. Currently, 1,819 local trains run on the Central Railway and 1,394 on the Western Railway, serving 40 lakh and 35 lakh passengers, respectively. Under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), the 5th and 6th railway tracks between Kurla and CSMT will be laid to provide separate routes for local and mail-express trains. This project, along with the addition of 250 new local trains over the next five years, aims to remove congestion and improve travel comfort for Mumbaikars.

While the state government has hailed the increased budget allocation for railway projects, some experts have expressed their concerns about the priorities and immediate solutions needed to address Mumbai’s transportation woes.

A V Shenoy, a transport expert from the Mumbai Mobility Forum, emphasized the need for immediate solutions to tackle the daily congestion in local trains. “The population of Mumbai city is increasing day by day, whereas people are moving to distant suburbs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) like Badlapur, Ambernath, and Titwala for affordable housing. However, for work, they have to commute back to Mumbai. The connectivity between MMR and the city of Mumbai is primarily through local trains,” he said. Shenoy stressed that the railways should focus on addressing these pressing issues to ease the daily commute for millions of residents.

Ashok Datar, another prominent transport expert, expressed his disappointment over the budget allocation for Mumbai. “Mumbai hasn’t received much from this budget. In fact, the government seems to be more focused on highways and cars rather than the existing railway system, which is extensively used by common people, including salaried workers, migrants and labourers,” Datar said. He criticized the plan to add local trains over the next five years as insufficient. “There is no announcement on AC locals, metro expansions, or other crucial enhancements,” he added

Meanwhile, the Railways are also planning to introduce 50 new mail-express trains from Mumbai. New terminus are proposed at Mulund, Parel, and Thakurli for the Central Railway, and near Vasai Road for the Western Railway. Nearly 7.5 acres of land is required for the mega terminus project.

Improving train frequency:

The Railway ministry is working on reducing the time interval between local trains from 180 seconds (3 minutes) to 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) in Mumbai. This reduction is expected to increase the number of train services, easing the daily commute for Mumbai residents.

Deployment of Kavach 4.0:

With the approval of Kavach 4.0 by the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO), the implementation of automated railway protection systems is set to accelerate. This system integrates multiple components including hardware, software, and optical fibre, to enhance railway safety. Minister Vaishnaw acknowledged the challenge of integrating various railway networks for this advanced protection system.