18.7.08

Mumbai - Nagpur Maglev Feasibility

The Maharashtra state government is going ahead with plans for a superfast train corridor between Mumbai and Nagpur, and commissioned a feasibility study costing Rs 4.17 crore for the ‘Maglev’ project.The study comes after many months of discussions in government circles about the need for superfast rail corridors linking different parts of the state to Mumbai. The links discussed were the Nagpur-Mumbai and Nashik-Mumbai; to be connected with Maglev trains.The Maglev project in Shanghai, which has trains running at over 250 miles per hour, was seen as an example of a superfast train corridor worth emulating. Government officials said that connecting Nagpur and Vidarbha through a high-speed corridor will give a boost to the local economy, and will lead to faster development of the region. Nagpur is already being developed as an international air cargo hub. A superfast corridor will speed up this development. State government officials said the superfast train corridors would be in addition to the expressways being planned to connect various regions. A scheme for widening the expressways connecting Mumbai to Pune and Nashik is already underway. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is also planning a superhighway to connect Mumbai and Nagpur. The state government sees the superfast rail corridor plan as part of the larger scheme of modernising transport systems in Mumbai city, region and the state. Officials point out that Mumbai will get the metro and the monorail in the next four years. There is also a plan for monorail projects in Thane, Kalyan and other towns in the region.

No comments: