Approval for 12-car trains on Harbour line may take longer

At least 10 lakh commuters on the Harbour line may have to wait a little longer to travel in 12-car trains.

At least 10 lakh commuters on the Harbour line may have to wait a little longer to travel in 12-car trains.

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The Central Railway sent the proposal for running 12-car locals on the Harbour line to the railway board in November last year. However, sources say the move may have come a little and it may be difficult to get it approved in the railway budget of 2011-12.

Ideally, the proposal should have been sent in July-August 2010, which would have given the board enough time to study it.

“The board usually scrutinises the entire project before including it in the budget for sanctioning,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity. The officials now hope that the railway board expedites the project and sanctions it in the budget.

This Rs 725-crore proposal sent to the board talks about procuring more coaches for converting the 9-car trains to 12-car, getting rolling stocks for the same and improvement of power supply and allied equipment for converting it from 1,500 volt direct current to 25,000 volt alternating current.

Vineet Kumar, deputy general manager, CR, confirmed the news: “The proposal of 12-car trains on Harbour line has been sent to railway board.”