MUMBAI, May 24: Union Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik today ruled out an underground rail network for Mumbai today as a `Utopian idea.'``We already have several projects pending all over the country we have difficulty completing," Naik told presspersons soon after commissioning the newly doubled 26 km-long Diva-Panvel rail link on Sunday morning.Several feasibility studies have been carried out for an underground metro link on the lines of the Calcutta network to take the pressure off Mumbai's suburban rail network. He also said the Central Railway (CR) will extend its services from CST to Panvel from June this year.The new Panvel-Diva double track inaugurated today has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 59 crores and has been completed in a record period of three years, say railway officials. Naik said though the country was technically competent to handle such projects, it was not a priority at present.``It will cost us an estimated Rs. 40,000 crore to complete all the rail projects alreadystarted all over the country," Naik informed. The railways had an annual budget of only Rs 2,000 crores for new projects. The allocation for new projects had been steadily declining in successive five year plans, from 72 per cent of the budget to a mere 18 per cent today, he said. However, he clarified that none of the announced projects will be shelved.On Tuesday, Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with C M Manohar Joshi in Mumbai, finally kicking off the Mumbai Rail Development Corporation. This body will oversee the execution of several World Bank-aided projects for the city's rail network. A new Kurla terminus to Mangalore will commence on the Konkan Railway from next Sunday. Doubling of the Diva-Vasai track would be completed by December this year, he said.
