Fadnavis approves 65 MahaRail projects, vows to make Maharashtra a railway level crossing-free state | Mumbai news (original) (raw)

Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday approved 65 railway infrastructure projects under the state Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation and directed officials to work towards making the state free of railway level crossings.

Fadnavis approves 65 MahaRail projects, vows to make Maharashtra a railway level crossing-free state

Chairing a meeting of MahaRail here, Fadnavis said infrastructure such as railway overbridges, underpasses and pedestrian bridges should be developed to eliminate level crossings across Maharashtra and improve connectivity in rapidly urbanising areas.

According to an official release, the 65 projects form the first phase of 131 proposed works to be undertaken by MahaRail on roads under the Public Works and Urban Development departments.

The chief minister said priority should be given to projects located on roads with Train Vehicle Units ranging between 25,000 and one lakh and where land acquisition requirements are minimal.

A Train Vehicle Unit is a mathematical metric used primarily by Railways to measure traffic density at Level Crossing gates. It is calculated by multiplying the number of passing trains by the number of road vehicle units over a 24-hour period.

Fadnavis also directed officials to plan infrastructure around railway corridors in metropolitan areas in view of increasing urbanisation and future transport needs.

The government stated that a total of 80 railway infrastructure projects have been proposed in urban centres across Maharashtra.

Among them, 17 projects are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, 15 in Pune, 13 in Nagpur, five each in Nashik and Amravati, and the remaining projects are spread across several other cities in the state, the release said.

Fadnavis asked authorities to constitute committees comprising municipal commissioners and district collectors to verify the projects before they are taken up by MahaRail.

The chief minister also flagged the possibility of traffic congestion at junctions on newly constructed flyovers in Nagpur and called for advance planning to address the issue.

He directed officials to construct a new railway overbridge on the Amravati-Badnera route in place of the existing old bridge.

Fadnavis asked officials to arrange funding for the projects through HUDCO and explore mechanisms to reduce borrowing costs.

He also directed that the process of bringing MahaRail under the Public Works Department be expedited and that payments for completed works be released promptly by the state government.

Public Works Minister Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale attended the meeting through video conferencing, while Minister of State Indranil Naik and MLA Prasad Lad were present.

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