While Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has announced the revival of elevated rail corridors for Mumbai, baffled railway authorities aren't fully aware about the plans
A day after the BJP lost miserably in Bihar, the top leaders of the government at the Centre made some face-saving announcements. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about development initiatives, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced the revival of elevated rail corridors for Mumbai.
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Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at Borivli railway station yesterday for the inauguration of a new Foot Over Bridge. Pic/Nimesh Dave
This has left railway officials confused, as at present the two elevated corridors that have been mooted for years now have either been kept in cold storage or are on the drawing board. On November 9, Prabhu seemed proud of the achievements he had made as railway minister.
Read Story: Setback to Mumbai's elevated rail corridor project
He said that 103 budget announcements had already been completed. While inaugurating the new foot-over bridge at Borivli station, he also announced the need for elevated rail corridors in Mumbai.
Baffled officials
However, this announcement has left railway officials baffled, as there are many hurdles surrounding the existing plans. “We will have to check how the existing plans can be revived. Over the last few months, they have been in cold storage,” said a senior railway official on condition of anonymity.
Railway officials agreed that with the Maharashtra government showing little interest in the elevated rail corridors, they didn’t expect its inclusion in the plans for Mumbai. For over five years now, the state government and Indian Railways have been sparring over which multi-crore project the city should get.
Also Read: Railways change tracks on elevated rail project
“After the announcement, we will now have to review the elevated rail corridors depending on the revised transport plans,” said another railway official. The state government also conducted bhoomi pujan of the Rs 23,000 crore Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro rail at the hands of PM Narendra Modi earlier this year.
The whole argument between the state and central governments was that the elevated rail line and Metro rail would have similar alignment that would only escalate the costs unnecessarily.
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