Belapur/Nerul-Kharkopar-Uran corridor opens today

STRAP: With no added train services, however, the corridor will increase commuters’ wait time substantially After a three-month wait period, the 27-km ‘fourth suburban corridor’ of Belapur/Nerul-Kharkopar-Uran will finally be thrown open to the public after its inauguration by prime minister Narendra Modi on January 12

STRAP: With no added train services, however, the corridor will increase commuters’ wait time substantially

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After a three-month wait period, the 27-km ‘fourth suburban corridor’ of Belapur/Nerul-Kharkopar-Uran will finally be thrown open to the public after its inauguration by prime minister Narendra Modi on January 12. On the ground, however, the corridor will only increase the wait period for local train commuters, as the Central Railway (CR) authorities are not planning to increase the current 40 services.

Phase 2 of the Kharkopar-Uran line, at 14.3 km, is an extension of the currently operational 12.4-km-long Belapur/Nerul-Kharkopar section. On January 11, senior officials said that CR would continue to operate only 40 services though they would be adding one or two rakes, considering the increase in distance. “We are also changing the timetable of the suburban rail corridor, which will come into effect from January 12,” said a CR official.

At present, CR’s 40 services cover a distance of 12.4 km. The service was launched in November 2018, and daily commuters, less than 1 lakh in number, complete the journey in 18 to 20 minutes. However, the addition of another 14.3 km on the Kharkopar-Uran section, with no corresponding increase in rakes, is expected to increase travel time by at least 25 to 30 minutes since the local trains which used to terminate at Kharkopar will now be extended all the way to Uran.

The second phase of the Uran-Kharkopar fourth corridor, despite being ready for commercial operations in October 2023, was not opened to the public since it was awaiting inauguration. This has been one of the longest running rail projects: commissioned in 1996-97, it has breached multiple deadlines owing to issues of land acquisition, opposition from locals and green clearances.

The new corridor connects the farthest ends of MMR and will allow citizens to go all the way up to CSMT after changing over at Belapur or Nerul. It will also provide seamless rail connectivity to the Navi Mumbai International Airport, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. The Kharkopar-Uran corridor will have five stations—Gavhanpada, Ranjanpada, Nhava-Sheva, Dronagiri and Uran. It will feature two major bridges, 41 minor bridges, two road underbridges and four road overbridges.