Mumbai’s Local Trains To Get New Car Sheds By 2025 To Accommodate The Expanding Suburban Rail Network

Two new car sheds are being constructed by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to maintain suburban trains in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

One of the car sheds is being built at Vangaon on the Western Railway (WR), while the other is located at Bhivpuri on the Central Railway (CR) — with a sanctioned cost of Rs 2352.77 crore.

According to a Free Press Journal report, the targeted completion date for the project is December 2025.

The upcoming car sheds will be outfitted with cutting-edge amenities and advanced sensor technology for inspecting trains, which is currently carried out through manual means. In addition, each car shed will have the capacity to maintain up to 65 trains at the same time.

At present, the Mumbai Railways have six car sheds — three on the Central Railway (CR) located at Kurla, Kalwa and Sanpada, and three on the Western Railway (WR) located at Mahalaxmi, Kandivli and Virar.

These six car sheds are responsible for maintaining a fleet of 250 trains. Apart from parking, the trains undergo daily inspection and maintenance at these sheds.

According to officials, the requirement for constructing new car sheds has arisen due to the expansion of suburban railway lines and the addition of more trains.

Furthermore, the development of new car sheds will assist in reducing the load on the existing ones.

Following earlier reports, the two car sheds are being set up under phase-3 of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-3A).

Earlier, MRVC had built a new car shed at Virar under MUTP-1 and later expanded it under MUTP-2.

The Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) aims to significantly invest in railway projects, road networks and transport systems in the city.

This ambitious project also includes focus on expanding and enhancing the capacity of the city's suburban train network.

Currently, several projects under MUTP-3A are at various stages of implementation, with the Union cabinet approving this phase on 7 March, 2019.

In another recent development reported, the central government has dropped two key suburban railway projects intended to enhance transportation between Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Palghar regions.

The projects — Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Panvel elevated fast corridor and the Virar-Vasai-Panvel suburban rail line — were also proposed under the MUTP-3A with an estimated cost of Rs 21,000 crore.