WR’s elevated rail corridor project delayed

On the sidelines of the inauguration of three new long-distance trains from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Sunday,Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said,“The Chief Minister (Prithviraj Chavan) has not given a definite date on which the state support agreement (SSA) will be signed. We are examining various aspects of the project and discussions are underway for the signing of the agreement. A meeting on the corridor is scheduled this month.”

The Railway Board is likely to discuss the SSA on November 13 as the sale of bid documents to prospective firms is scheduled on November 27. A copy of the SSA is to be provided to bidders along with the bid document.

Asked about the status of the project,Arunendra Kumar,chairman of the Railway Board,said,“The project has several technical complications. It involves three agencies. Therefore,we are treading carefully. The corridor requires a deeper study as it is already estimated to cost Rs 26,000 crore by 2019.”

On the future of the elevated corridor between CST and Panvel,he said,“Let one project take off first,then we will think about the other. It should not be that there are too many projects (being pitched) and nothing takes off.”

Kharge also inducted the first stainless steel electric multiple unit (EMU) rake in the suburban railway fleet and launched the trespass control works planned by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) under the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport (MUTP) project 2A.

priyal.dave@expressindia.com