Officials have said that the Virar-Vasai-Diva-Panvel corridor, which had been removed from the Mumbai Urban Transport Project III in the 2016-17-railway budget, has now got a separate sanction by the Niti Aayog and is of importance as it is the first suburban line to connect Western Railway (WR) to Central Railway’s (CR’s) mainline and Harbour line.
The project has an estimated cost of Rs 7,586 crore and will provide great relief as the railways runs only 36 services via the Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains with 13 services to and fro on the section.
The route of the new suburban corridor will remain the same with the major difference being it being included as a suburban section.
Currently, commuters who want to travel from the Harbour line to Diva often take these same DEMU trains, as the journey is seamless.
The line has been revived by the railways after officials of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which is the planning body for Mumbai railways, were miffed when it was removed from the railway budget announced by Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu in February this year.
