No plan for high speed trains on Mumbai suburban rail: Velu

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) If Mumbaikars, who have to endure an agonising commute in crowded suburban trains everyday, thought their ordeal would soon be over with the likely introduction of Maglev trains running at a speed of 300 km per hour, the damper has come in the form of government rejecting any such proposal.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Railway R Velu said there was no proposal to introduce state-of-the-art magnetic leviated or Maglev trains running at a speed of up to 300 km per hour on the Mumbai suburban train system.

However, the Maharashtra government had decided to appoint a consultant for the feasibility study of high-speed train in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, he informed the House.

Also, the technology for such a project had not yet been decided, he said.

The minister said six bidders had filed Expressions of Interest (EoIs) with the Maharashtra government for the appointment of consultants for the mega project.

Mr Velu said a consultant was being appointed by the state government for preparing the feasibility study.

''After receipt of the feasibility study, further action, including preparation of a Detailed Project Report, can be taken,'' he added.

Replying to another query, he said it had been decided to develop Carnac Bunder (Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) as a world class station through PPP by leveraging the surplus land around and air space above the station.

To a query about the demand from the Maharashtra Chief Minister for shifting the Nanded Railway Division from South Central Railway to Central Railway, Mr Velu said the proposal had not been found feasible.

However, ''the decision to place a particular division under a particular zone is taken based on the operational and administrative requirements without any regional considerations...The present arrangement is working satisfactorily,'' he said.

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