Harbour line to get 12-coach trains soon

Harbour line to get 12-coach trains soon

There is finally good news for the harbour line commuters. CM Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday signed the papers to formalise the project that will see harbour line trains running with 12-coaches. The state urban development department is expected to formalise papers by Friday, said officials. The harbour line, with an annual passenger growth of almost 7%, is among the fastest growing suburban systems in India. The Rs714-crore project will see all the 51 rakes of harbour line getting three additional coaches each. A total of 153 coaches will need to be procured for this. “With an increase of 33% in the carrying capacity of each train, commute will become more comfortable once the project gets completed over the next two years,” said a senior railway official. The project, which is already three to four months late, is expected to be completed by December 2014. Four to five contracts already readied for civil, electrical and signal-telecom works by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation will be handed out in the next few days. “The work should begin by December 20 this year. The extension of platforms on harbour line, some of which are on elevated structures, and the re-spacing of signals to accommodate longer 12-coach trains will be a huge challenge,” said an official.