30 December,2025 03:59 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
The project is expected to be completed within three to four years after land acquisition. Representational pic
The Ministry of Railways has sanctioned the construction of the third and fourth railway lines between Badlapur and Karjat under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-3B (MUTP-3B), following approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The project, which has already received consent from the Maharashtra Government, will be executed by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) and involves quadrupling the 32.46-km suburban rail section between Badlapur and Karjat.
The new lines will run alongside the existing alignment and cover six key suburban stations - Badlapur, Vangani, Shelu, Neral, Bhivpuri Road, and Karjat. About 37.79 hectares of private land will be required, in addition to government and railway land. The project cost has been pegged at Rs 1,324 crore, to be shared equally between the Maharashtra Government and the Ministry of Railways through Gross Budgetary Support.
Designed to boost capacity on the Mumbai-Chennai High Density Route, the project aims to ease congestion on one of India's busiest rail corridors, which supports heavy suburban traffic and growing freight movement linked to upcoming ports, logistics hubs and expanding nodes in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Railway officials said the quadrupling will allow better segregation of suburban and mainline train operations, reduce congestion at stations, improve scheduling flexibility for long-distance services, and enhance passenger safety through boundary protection and station mobility upgrades.
Commenting on the development, Vilas S Wadekar, chairman and managing director, MRVC Ltd, said the project would enable complete segregation of mainline and suburban traffic in the Kalyan-Karjat section.
"The additional lines will support smoother movement of suburban commuters and long-distance passengers, while also enabling efficient freight operations on this high-density corridor," said Wadekar.
The project is expected to be completed within three to four years after land acquisition.
Following an on-ground assessment of all the ongoing projects in Mumbai, the Railways has promised 700 additional suburban services and the doubling of express trains for Mumbai in the next three to five years. The assessments are a part of the larger plan for 48 major cities, which includes planned, proposed, or already sanctioned works to achieve the goal of doubling train-handling capacity in a time-bound manner.
While the Central Railway (CR) has identified Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, the Western Railway (WR) has identified six major cities, including Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Ujjain and Indore, for its expansion of services.
"We're expanding coaching terminals in key cities to meet rising passenger demand and reduce congestion. This move will upgrade the railway network and significantly improve nationwide connectivity," Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for railways, said.
The works for doubling the originating capacity by 2030 would include upgrading the current terminals with additional platforms, stabling lines, pit lines, and adequate shunting facilities; identifying and creating new terminals in and around the urban area; maintenance facilities, including mega coaching complexes; and increasing the sectional capacity with traffic facility works, signalling upgrades, and multitracking required for handling increased trains at various points.
