Thane - Panvel Phase II nearing completion

Commuters on the Thane-Panvel line can heave a sigh of relief with the much-awaited second phase of the route expected to be completed by Diwali.Work on the 4.8-km Thurbe-Nerul line is nearly over and once finished, it will benefit around 75,000 commuters daily. Till now, commuters from Thane who needed to go to Panvel needed to travel to Sanpada or Vashi, change trains and then head in the reverse direction. The whole journey, which took 45 minutes excluding the waiting time while changing trains, will now be completed in 35 minutes. The project has been taken up by City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), which will bear twothirds of the cost and the railways will chip in with the remaining amount. Chief administrative officer (construction, CR) K K Sharma said the project was almost over and just finer details such as yard remodeling, signaling and track interconnectivity are left. “The number of services and rakes on this line will depend on the availability of EMUs. Currently, the electricity to the two lines are supplied through DC, but they are AC-enabled. Nine-car rakes will be used initially, but provisions are there for 12-car rakes,” he said. The Thane-Panvel link comprises two phases—one between Thurbe and Vashi, which was sanctioned in 1995-96 and completed in 2004 and the other between Thurbe and Nerul, work on which started after 2004. The project, the cost of which is Rs 403 crore, is a major boost to the industrial and educational zone of Thane, Vashi, Belapur and Panvel said chief PRO, Central Railway (CR). “This area is fast developing and there were thousands who had to change trains as there was no direct connection,” he said. CR will stage a mega blocks on October 12 and 19 to give the finishing touches to the project before opening it to the public soon after.
Work has started on the second line of the 75-km Panvel-Roha route on land already acquired by the railways. Earth work and construction of bridges has started said K K Sharma. Tenders for the stretch between Panvel and Pen will be floated on November 7. Currently, there is just one line, which passes through several sharp turns. The new line will detour these curves, said Sharma. “Of the 75 km, 60 km belongs to the railways. The project will be ready by 2011,” he said.