News Brief
MRVC Explores Underground Suburban Rail Corridors In South Mumbai To Ease Congestion And Unlock Land
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The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd. (MRVC) has commissioned a feasibility study to examine the possibility of converting some of South Mumbai’s busiest suburban rail stretches into underground alignments, The Free Press Journal has reported.
The study, undertaken in collaboration with Central and Western Railways, is aimed at easing congestion and unlocking prime railway land for better use.
One focus area is the Churchgate–Mumbai Central section, a 5 km corridor that may be shifted underground before reconnecting at Mumbai Central.
Similarly, another study will assess the construction of two additional suburban lines between CSMT and Parel, a stretch of around 8 km.
Here, planners are weighing multiple options—underground, elevated, at-grade, or a hybrid approach to find the most feasible solution.
An interchange facility at Byculla is also under consideration.
The proposed alignment will reportedly be executed strictly on railway-owned land, ensuring that private land acquisition is not required.
Critical issues such as decongesting the city’s suburban network, freeing up valuable land parcels in South Mumbai, and ensuring better integration with other modes of transport will be studied.
The team will also draw on international best practices from London, New York, and Tokyo, where urban rail systems have long combined underground and surface corridors seamlessly.
The study will include a comparative analysis of tunnel systems, assessing the efficiency of twin-bore versus multiple single-bore designs.
Construction methods will also be evaluated to determine the safest and most practical path forward.
A comprehensive cost–benefit and financial viability analysis will weigh the long-term economic gains against project costs.
