The Cabinet on Wednesday approved two multi-tracking railway projects covering four districts across Maharashtra and Gujarat at a cost of Rs 2,781 crore.
These projects are expected to increase the existing rail network by 224 kms, and enhance connectivity in the Mumbai suburban area in addition to about 585 villages that have a combined population of 3.2 million.
Capacity Augmentation
The approved projects will improve the freight carrying capacity of the railways by 18 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). “This is an essential route for transportation of commodities such as coal, salt, container, cement, petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), etc. The railways being environment-friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimising logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import and lower CO2 emissions,” official statement said.
The cumulative freight loading in FY26 surpassed the 1 billion-tonne mark, reaching 1,020 million tonnes (MT) as of November 19, which translates into daily loading of 4.4 MT.
The official statement said that the increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for the transporter. Further, these multi-tracking proposals are poised to streamline operations and alleviate congestion in both passenger and goods segments.
Boosting Suburban Mobility
The proposed projects include doubling of line from Kanalus to Okha (Devbhoomi Dwarka) that would provide enhanced connectivity to Dwarkadhish temple facilitating access to key pilgrimage destinations and lead to all round development of Saurashtra region. Additionally, the Badlapur-Karjat section forms part of the Mumbai suburban corridor. The 3rd and 4th line project on this section will improve the connectivity in Mumbai suburban area and meet the future demands of passengers, along with providing connectivity to Southern India.
The approved projects are part of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan that aims to enhance the multi-modal connectivity and logistic efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations.
This is the 11th multi-tracking project approved by the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) since August 2024. Prior to this, the cabinet had approved projects to add new rail lines and doubling of the existing lines.