Work on Panvel-Karjat suburban rail line begins

Mumbai is set to get a new suburban rail corridor with the construction of the Panvel-Karjat rail line, including a 2.6km tunnel, the longest in the city's suburban railway. The line will connect Navi Mumbai with the Raigad district and is part of efforts to reach untapped areas of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Work is expected to be completed by December 2025.

Mumbai: With the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) beginning work on the Panvel-Karjat rail line, which will connect Navi Mumbai with the Raigad district of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Mumbai is set to get yet another suburban rail corridor. The fourth corridor on the Nerul/Belapur-Kharkopar-Uran route, which was completed in November 2018, is not fully opened to the public yet.

Work on Panvel-Karjat suburban rail line begins

Work on the Panvel-Karjat line has commenced with the Wavrely tunnel, which, at 2.6 km, will be the longest tunnel in Mumbai’s suburban railway. The digging for the tunnel began in February and on September 6, the one-km milestone was achieved. Currently, blasting of a hill to construct the tunnel is under way.

The 2.6-km-long tunnel is one of the three key tunnels on the new double line for local trains. “The entire line has three tunnels, two rail flyovers, 44 major and minor bridges, 15 road-under bridges and seven road-over bridges,” said an official from MRVC. The length of the new rail line is about 29.6 km with five stations.

The three tunnels—the Nadhal tunnel (219 m), Wavrely tunnel (2.6 km) and Kirawali tunnel (300 m) are all under construction. Sources said the target date for completion is December 2025. At present, the work of waterproofing and concrete lining is in progress.

“The biggest challenge in the excavation of this tunnel, which is very close to the existing tunnel of the Panvel-Karjat single line, is that work has to be carried out under much stricter safety restrictions,” said another MRVC official. “The three tunnels will have ballast-less tracks with adequate public refuge areas, tunnel control system, lighting system and ventilation systems.”

The new line is part of the railway’s efforts to reach untapped areas of MMR. The existing old line caters to goods and a few long-distance passenger trains. The new double-line corridor will enable local trains to run between Mumbai and Karjat via Panvel. It will also work as a development catalyst for the fast-developing Panvel, Karjat and the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area.

At present, Parsik Tunnel between Thane and Diva, at 1.3 km, is the longest tunnel in the Mumbai suburban section. Work on this tunnel began in 1906 and was opened to traffic in 1916.