‘Procuring rakes from ICF will delay projects’

Officials from the city railway have said that the Railway Board’s decision to hand over the procurement of new rolling stock for Mumbai from the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) would delay projects.

According to the officials, procurement of 145 coaches for the much-awaited Belapur-Uran-Seawood line would delay the project even more.

The letter (a copy of which is with this newspaper) stated that the tender and other related processes would now be carried out by the ICF instead of the MRVC. This, the officials said, would add even more regulative obstructions to the already delayed project.

“The line should have been operational by March 2016, but even now, the land acquisition for three out the six stations are nowhere near completion,” said a railway official.

After missing several deadlines, the new deadline for the project is 2018.

“Half of the stations come under the forest department’s jurisdiction and they are not parting with the land for environmental reasons. But the project has been in a limbo as a result of this,” added the official.

The line has already created a new suburb habitation along the line including places like Ulwe and Drongagiri. The area has also witnessed a huge real-estate boom.

As the MRVC is a part of the railways, it has easier access and daily interaction with the railway ministry for the procurement of rakes, as was seen while procuring the 72 new Bombardier rakes.

The ICF, on the other hand, is a public undertaking and is not under as much pressure to get the coaches ready. This shift would increase the paperwork involved, among other causes for delays.