Suburban rail systems play a very important role in connecting suburbs to cities, thereby reducing permanent migration and traffic congestion issues in major cities. While suburban rail systems in cities such as Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru share tracks with long distance trains due to the absence of dedicated suburban tracks, suburban rail
systems in Chennai and Mumbai have both dedicated and shared tracks. Recently, the government has been paying greater attention to providing last-mile connectivity in urban areas and cities. In Union Budget 2019-20, the government emphasised the need to take up more suburban rail projects through the special purpose vehicle (SPV) route.
Mumbai’s famous “local”
The first suburban rail system in the country started its operations in 1853 in Mumbai. In Mumbai, the suburban rail or local train is considered to be the lifeline of the city as it carries around 8 million passengers every day. It is also the fastest mode of transport in Mumbai, moving at a speed of 50-55 kmph on express corridors and 35-45 kmph on regular corridors. The Mumbai urban transport project (MUTP) is operated by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which is an SPV formed jointly by the Ministry of Railways (MoR) and the Maharashtra government. The MRVC is also involved in planning and development of Mumbai’s suburban rail system. It has undertaken four urban transport projects in the city so far, of which works under MUTP 1 have been completed whereas the three lines pending under MUTP 2 are scheduled for completion in the next two years. Further, MUTP 3, sanctioned in December 2016, is also currently under implementation. Recently, in March 2019, MUTP 3A was also sanctioned by the government.
MUTP 3 and MUTP 3A cover the works identified for sustainable urban transport development in Mumbai by 2031. However, these projects require large-scale investments that cannot be met solely by the government. Of the total fund requirements, about 40 per cent is being met through loans from multilateral agencies and will be repaid through surcharge on tickets and passes on the local trains. The remaining funds are being contributed equally by the MoR and the Maharashtra government.
The suburban rail system in Mumbai currently provides an investment opportunity of Rs 446.37 billion for implementing the MUTP 3 and MUTP 3A systems. These projects are expected to improve passenger comfort and travel experience by running air-conditioned trains and developing better stations. They will provide better connections to the suburbs and develop new business and residential centres in areas such as Dahanu, Kalyan, Badlapur, Karjat and Asangaon. Along with the upcoming metro rail systems, suburban rail will provide a seamless travel experience with a common integrated ticketing system. However, the involvement of multiple stakeholders such as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the Maharashtra government, Central Railway, the Railway Board, multilateral funding agencies, etc. imposes various implementation challenges in terms of delays in decision-making and lack of clarity with respect to authority and responsibility.
Another major issue is the inadequate time to undertake any maintenance or development activities on suburban rail systems. The time window available to work on the running lines is only two to four hours during the night, and this is not sufficient for development activities. Besides, other constraining factors such as working without affecting existing train operations, absence of enough space to carry out development activities, and rehabilitation and resettlement issues further delay implementation of suburban railway projects. These issues and constraining factors need to be addressed on an urgent basis to ensure speedy and timely development of rail transportation systems in suburban areas.
Based on a presentation by R.S. Khurana, Chairman and Managing Director, and Vijay Nathawat, Director, Projects, MRVC, at a recent India Infrastructure conference