Metal fencing to come up on Vande Bharat routes

Central Railway officials said beyond Kalyan, there are huge land parcels where cattle roam freely for grazing.

Vande Bharat Express train at a railway station in Mumbai (PTI)

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VANDE BHARAT train routes from Mumbai to Solapur and Shirdi are likely to get metal fencing to pre- vent incidents of cattle being run over, said an official of Central Railway on Wednesday. Two Vande Bharat trains were flagged off on these routes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Mumbai on February 10. The trains have been introduced on these two routes mainly to cater to passengers who undertake the pilgrimage to Shirdi and Tuljabhavani, Akkalkot, Siddeshwar and Pandharpurtem- ples in Solapur.

Following multiple instances of cattle being run over by Vande Bharat trains on the Mumbai- Ahmedabad route, authorities are mulling the possibility of introducing such fencing along the Solapur and Shirdi routes.

Central Railway officials said beyond Kalyan, there are huge land parcels where cattle roam freely for grazing, thus such inci- dents are likely on these routes.

Meanwhile, Western Railway, which is in charge of Mumbai- Ahmedabad Vande Bharat oper- ations, has initiated metal fencing work at an estimated cost of Rs 245.26 crore. The metal fencing will cover a stretch of 622 km from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. All eight tenders for the work have been awarded and the fencing is ex- pected to be completed by the end of May this year. The Mumbai to Shirdi route covers nearly 340 km, while the Mumbai to Solpaur dis- tance is nearly 400 km. The metal fencing, if undertaken as per the plan, will be mainly between Kalyan to Karjat and Kalyan to Kasara, said the CR official.

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