The financial capital of the country, Mumbai is planning to get its first underground rail line, if everything goes according to the plan.
Mumbai Getting It’s Own Underground Rail Line
It appears that the Central Railway (CR) hopes to tunnel underground to build its fifth and sixth lines between Parel/Currey Road and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CMST) in South Mumbai taking a cue from the Mumbai metro, whose Line 3 is the city’s first-ever underground transport corridor.
Intersingly, this route covers Phase 2 of a project to build a fifth and sixth railway corridor along the Kurla-Parel-CSMT stretch of the CR’s suburban system reportedly.
When it comes to Phase 2, it is a 7.4-km line from Parel to CSMT as Phase 1, from Kurla to Parel, covers 10.1 km is already underway.
Given the considerable challenges in land acquisition and rehabilitating project affected persons (PAPs) for mega projects like these, the railway believes tunnelling under the city would skirt these issues, making it a smoother ride.
Their argument for this, if the Mumbai metro can do it, why not the railways.
Nonetheless, it’s an ambitious plan, and it’s still in its early stages.
Coming to the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) and Central Railway, they have met a few times but are yet to chalk out a plan for the proposed underground rail line.
Technical Feasibility Studies In Progress
They are doing the technical feasibility studies, it’s outcome will determine which agency will execute the project.
Railway officials said the line would be 7.4 km long and built 20-25 metres under the overland railway tracks.
For the aligning of this project, they would skirt buildings, roads and underground utilities, which typically pose a huge challenge to any underground project.
Pouring more light on the subject, a senior railway official said, “We are still analysing the possibility of going underground between Parel and CSMT stations for the fifth and sixth rail lines, and the necessary studies will be undertaken before finalising it. We are preparing terms of reference for the process, and will appoint a consultant.”
He further added, “We will have to assess the availability of land for tunnel boring machines to enter/exit at CSMT and Parel, which will be identified during the study. Once underground, we can have alternative alignments to end the tunnel at the CSMT end.”
Two Entry Points & Some Challenges
They are considering two entry/exit points for the proposed tunnel at the CSMT end.
Out of the, one is going to be inside the terminus and the other near the terminus.
The official said, the tunnel can enter/exit CSMT inside the terminus, next to the suburban railway corridor or close to the long-distance train platforms, whichever is feasible, in the first instance.
Besides this, they may also consider an alternative of an entry/exit point on the P D’Mello side of CSMT.
In order to achieve this, they are likely to face two challenges.
First is the alignment of the proposed Metro 11 line, an underground metro corridor from Wadala to CSMT, would have to be taken into consideration.
Secondly, the Central Railway would also have to take into account the underground CSMT station of Metro 3.
When it comes to finances, the tentative cost of the entire project (Phase 1 and 2) if the underground corridor is approved is pegged at ₹3,000 crore.
This is almost three times the original cost, with only overland lines.
Interestingly, the estimated cost was ₹890.89 crore, when this plan was originally sanctioned in 2008 which has been revised to ₹1,337 crore.
