Railways set to decongest Thane; Public to benefit, but cost soars from Rs 428 cr to Rs 519 cr

Railways work for a new Digha station has been flagged off on the Kalwa-Airoli route last Monday. In order to take a train to Vashi, commuters travelling from Kasara, Karjat will not have to come to Thane. The new Digha station will serve two purposes: shorten the journey of the passengers and decongest Thane station, reported DNA.

According to the report, the work for Digha railway station on Kalwa-Airoli elevated rail corridor began on May 7. The pujan of this MUTP III project was done by Thane MP Rajan Vichare. “This new station will be a boon to all those commuters from beyond Thane who work in Navi Mumbai,” Vichare said.

In 2014, Rajan Vichare raised the need for Kalwa-Airoli corridor. The then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu approved the project with a budget of Rs 428 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did the bhumi pujan of this proposed Railways route in December 2016. But, since then no progress was seen on the project due to  land acquisition issues. 

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Vichare said that now that the rehabilitation of those to be affected by this project has been approved, the project has finally taken off. This delay has escalated the cost of the project from Rs 428 crore to Rs 519 crore, out of which Ra 100 crore has been sanctioned for Digha and as compensation to people who were displaced due to the project.