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Gadkari seeks rly connectivity to JNPT to reduce container traffic on e-way
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has proposed a railway line connecting to JNPT to bring down container traffic on the Pune-Mumbai expressway
PUNE: Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has proposed a railway line connecting to JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) to bring down container traffic on the Pune-Mumbai expressway.
Gadkari said, “When I had the water ministry, I proposed the railway connectivity. Now, the state government must follow up the proposal.”
“The Pune-Mumbai expressway sees a lot of container traffic. Most of these vehicles are going to JNPT port. If a dedicated metro line is built, instead of road, all the container movement will get shifted on railway,” the minister said.
He has appealed to the Maharashtra government to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for it and submit it to the railway ministry.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chandrakant Patil was present when Gadkari briefed the media during the Pune visit. Patil assured Gadkari that the state government would follow up the issue and discuss it at the cabinet.
A senior officer from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on condition of anonymity said, “A green field highway from Surat to Bengaluru is coming up. If the railway connectivity would get container movement from north and south, it will come till logistics parks and later, it can go by railway.”
NHAI officials said, “Containers are disturbing normal traffic on E-way. Instead of using the left slow lane, most of the vehicles run on the last lane which is made only for overtaking. Even they are driving on the middle lane. As heavy vehicles use the speed lanes, other vehicles try to overtake and accidents could happen.”
