In Budget 2018, Mumbai rakes in the moolah for its railway network

Central Railway's idea of building a mega outstation train terminus at Parel receives funds along with the much-hyped MUTP III getting an in-principle approval

The much-hyped MUTP III, which aims to convert the entire fleet of suburban locals into air-conditioned ones, has received an allocation of Rs 1 crore to kickstart the work. Representational Picture

Mumbai's rail network is winning big at the Union Budget this year. Not only has the CR's idea of building a mega outstation train terminus at Parel received funds, but the much-hyped Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) III, which aims to convert the entire fleet of suburban locals into air-conditioned ones, has also received an in-principle approval, with an allocation of Rs 1 crore to kick start the work.

Also read - Union Budget 2018: Rs 51,000 crore boost to Mumbai's suburban railway network

Both the city's railways have received a whole lot of funds for several new bridges, escalators and lifts, along with making all slow-line stations on Western Railway (WR) capable of running 15-car trains.

Big project
"On CR, while we will be building over 21 new foot overbridges and new escalators. About 20 stations have been lined up for redevelopment. The big project, of Rs 193 crore, is to build a new outstation terminus at Parel," confirmed SK Jain, CR's Mumbai divisional railway manager. The Rs 25 crore plan to convert the CSMT heritage building into a rail transport museum has also received a nod with allocation of Rs 3 lakh to begin with.

Monies for MUTP
As for MUTP, the major allocations are Rs 339 crore for phase 2, which includes ongoing works like new lines between Kurla-Parel, Diva-Thane. For phase III, Rs 1,038 crore has been allocated for the new Airoli-Kalwa rail link, quadrupling of the Virar-Dahanu rail line, 47 AC local trains and a new line between Panvel-Karjat. Money has also been kept separately for installing CCTV coaches in local trains and other important works like raising platform height, cover, etc.

"WR will try to install escalators at every suburban station, wherever feasible. 15 WR stations in Mumbai will be redeveloped and a number of new foot overbridges will also come up," said Anil Kumar Gupta, WR's general manager.

"The MRVC will be able to complete work on the Thane-Diva line by March 2019, and additional Borivli-Mumbai Central lines by March 2021," said RS Khurana, managing director of MRVC.

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