Three coaches of suburban train derail near Kharkopar station

Three coaches of Belapur to Kharkopar suburban train derailed on Tuesday morning. The incident happened at 8.46am when the local train was entering Kharkopar station. No one was injured in the mishap. However, this led to suspension of rail traffic on the Belapur-Seawoods-Kharkopar suburban corridor

Mumbai: Three coaches of Belapur to Kharkopar suburban train derailed on Tuesday morning.

Navi Mumbai, India - February 28, 2023: Three coaches of local train derailed near Kharkopar Railway Station without any casualties, in Navi Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

The incident happened at 8.46am when the local train was entering Kharkopar station.

No one was injured in the mishap. However, this led to suspension of rail traffic on the Belapur-Seawoods-Kharkopar suburban corridor.

Sources said that fortunately there was no train coming from the opposite direction as the derailed coaches were too close to the other rail line.

Meanwhile, railway authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the derailment.

The phase two—Kharkopar-Uran—of the Nerul/Belapur-Uran fourth corridor is expected to be ready this month and will comprise five stations, two major bridges, 41 minor bridges, two road under-bridges and four road overbridges.

This new rail corridor will connect Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) with Uran. The railway corridor will facilitate a direct commute between Mumbai and Uran and connect the new Navi Mumbai International Airport and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

The new Nerul/Belapur-Uran corridor is one part of the transformation of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s farthest corridor in Navi Mumbai. This entire project was planned at a cost of around ₹495 crore, while the current cost is around ₹2,970 crore.

The Central Railway (CR) had partially started the Nerul/Belapur-Kharkopar section in November 2018, and currently operates 40 services using two 12-car trains, which caters to around 38,000 to 40,000 commuters daily.

This 12.4-km Nerul-Kharkopar line is half of the 27-kms long route till Uran, which is the end of the MMR. Nerul/Belapur-Uran fourth corridor is the one of the longest running rail projects, which started back in 1996-97.

“All works on the second phase of the fourth corridor, from Kharkopar till Uran are ready. Final clearances are pending which we expect this month. And, hopefully, in March we will open it to the public,” a senior CR official said.

In the past, there were issues of funding that was shared with the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) for clearance of mangroves and land acquisition among other things. This corridor will take people to Uran in about one hour and 45 minutes. The existing freight line to Uran is about 95.10 km from CSMT and the new line will pass through a shorter route and cut the distance by nearly half.