To provide an alternative to commuters forced to travel to Dadar, Kurla or Wadala if they want to switch lines, MRVC considers a Panvel-Diva-Virar rail corridor for an east-west link in the far-off northern suburbs

In order to make travel more convenient for the 70 lakh suburban train commuters who are left with no option but to come all the way till Dadar, Kurla or Wadala if they want to switch between Western, Central and Harbour lines, MRVC officials are mulling a plan to interlink the northern extremes on the three lines. The plan proposes east-to-west connectivity on the Panvel-Diva-Virar corridor.



The planning agency of Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) will soon meet with senior railway officials in the Capital to discuss the matter. A senior official from MRVC said, "We will hold a meeting with railway officials in Delhi in the first week of January. Our priority is to ensure that during the Union railway budget, money is allotted to at least carry out a feasibility study for the proposed connectivity."

Once a marginal sum is allotted in the budget for analysing and studying the feasibility, things could fall in place, sources say. Presently, there are two tracks on the Panvel-Diva-Virar section which are used by goods trains, and sometimes, long-distance trains. The railway officials feel that it is impossible to run suburban services on the existing stretch due to the heavy goods trains traffic.