Panvel-Karjat Railway Line Targeted for CRS Inspection by Year End
The Panvel-Karjat New Suburban Corridor is expected to be ready for safety inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety by the end of this year, following civil, cabling, and electrification works completed by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation in July. The new link between Panvel and Karjat is being constructed to add capacity to the Mumbai suburban rail network, with recent infrastructure milestones reached near Chikhale and Mohape.
On the Panvel-Karjat corridor, subways at Chikhale and Mohape were completed during July, while Road Over Bridges 89/1 and 90/2 were opened for local residents. Electrification work saw the installation of approximately 4 kilometres of OHE catenary wire, 4 kilometres of contact wire, and 32 kilometres of dropping wire. Cabling work inside Tunnel-1 and Tunnel-3 was also completed. Once remaining works are finished, the corridor will undergo CRS inspection before passenger operations can be considered.
Alongside the Panvel-Karjat route, MRVC advanced several other suburban capacity projects during July. On the Virar-Dahanu Road quadrupling project, the agency completed Minor Bridge No. 133 and ROB LC-55A in the Vangaon-Dahanu section. At Kelve Road station, Phase-I signalling and telecommunications works were commissioned on July 15, along with automatic signalling on the Up and Down Main Lines between Saphale and Kelve Road, and electronic interlocking systems at Relay Huts 3 and 4.
For the Borivali-Virar 5th and 6th lines project, MRVC secured physical possession of 1.81 hectares of land at Bhayandar on July 21 and completed staff quarters at Vasai Road and Bhayandar.
Passenger movement infrastructure was also handed over across multiple stations. Elevated decks at Kandivali and Mira Road were handed over to Western Railway, while an east-side booking office opened at Mankhurd. At Ghatkopar, a 55-metre elevated deck linking the South-end foot overbridge with the Metro foot overbridge was commissioned, complete with a staircase to Platform 1, double-discharge landings for Platforms 2/3 and 4, and connectivity to the eastern skywalk.
Major girder launching was also executed during the month, including five girders at Dombivli for a 54-metre skywalk, four at Dahisar for a 64-metre foot overbridge, 16 at Virar for an elevated deck, ten at Bhayandar, and seven at Nallasopara.
To support the execution of major projects, the Maharashtra Cabinet on July 28 approved increasing MRVC's authorised share capital from Rs 25 crore to Rs 500 crore, and raising its paid-up capital from Rs 25 crore to Rs 225 crore.
