The Union environment ministry's regional empowered committee has approved the diversion of 12.78 hectares of mangrove forests for the expansion of railway services in Mumbai. The proposal, which includes the felling of over 2,000 mangroves, has been awaiting clearance for over a year. The project aims to add a fifth and sixth railway line to the Western Railway to ease congestion. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation has been instructed to construct animal underpasses to protect wildlife in the area. The project is still awaiting necessary clearances from the Bombay High Court and the state coastal zone management authority.
S C Gupta, chairman and MD of MRVC said the prototype rake would be launched after two years, and thereafter, the rakes would be rolled out for a period of five years. At present, there are 275 rakes in the suburban train network of Mumbai, which includes 14 AC rakes
The Central government has cancelled the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Panvel elevated fast corridor and the Virar-Vasai-Panvel suburban rail line, as well as reducing the number of air-conditioned local trains from 210 to 191. These projects were part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3A, and were set to cost more than INR21,000 crore ($3.15bn). The decision has been criticised as it comes as infrastructure projects in the region are expanding, including the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, new airport and metro lines.
Indian Railways has requested a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 5 for its rail premises in Mumbai for projects under Phase 3 of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project. The FSI of 5, which is what is permitted for commercial buildings in Mumbai, will ideally mean vertical development on railway land. The unused FSI can then be sold as transferable development rights for funding the railway?s share of the project cost. The redevelopment and revamp of 19 stations on both the central and western railway lines at a cost of ₹947 crore is one of the prominent works under the ₹33,690-crore MUTP-3A.
The Maharashtra government has agreed to release ?100 crore immediately towards the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), out of the pending amount of ?1,512 crore. The decision comes after officials from Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) met with chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The MRVC will receive funds for the MUTP-3 and 3A projects with a cumulative total of over ?44,600 crore, including new suburban rail corridors and the expansion of Harbour line. The Indian Railways have provided funds of ?5,932 crore while the Maharashtra government has disbursed ?4,421 crore over the years.