Mumbai Diary: Peek into what's happening in the financial capital

If everything goes as per a plan, the suburban section of the Central Railway shall see AC local services by September this year.
AC locals will run between CSMT and Kalyan
AC locals will run between CSMT and Kalyan

AC local on central line by September

If everything goes as per a plan, the suburban section of the Central Railway shall see AC local services by September this year. The railway administration is almost done with the plan, but is waiting for broad based consultations to be over before starting the service because three existing trains, each during peak hours in the morning and evening, have to be cancelled.

As per the plan, the trains will run between CSMT and Kalyan. The administration is also working on reducing the time for the doors to automatically close. If that happens, the services would be started on harbour line also.  

MMR expanded to Palghar, Dahanu

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) will now cover the previously left out 433 villages of neighbouring areas such as Palghar, Dahanu, Pen, Shahapur, Murbad, Khalapur and Alibaug, including the tribal areas of Raigad district. The state legislature cleared a Bill to facilitate this expansion earlier this week while underlining the fact that this will help the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to invest in these areas and give boost to big ticket infra projects. Now, the MMR area is extended by 2,000 sq km and the population has gone up by 12 lakh. The MMRDA had proposed the expansion earlier this year to help the Municipal Corporations, councils and Gram Panchayats in planning their areas in a better way and do away with encroachments in the area.

Tussle over hike in illegal parking fine


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced earlier this week that it shall charge a very steep penalty for illegal parking in the vicinity of its authorised parking lots. While the corporation proposed Rs 10,000 as the fine for illegal parking within a radius of one km from its parking lots, the traffic police came forth with a suggestion to amend the Motor Vehicle Act for increasing the fine from current  Rs 200 to Rs 10,000. In 148 parking lots, the municipal corporation has a provision to park just 40,000 vehicles. 

Faster train soon for Pune, Nashik

Mumbai, Pune and Nashik — the golden triangle of Maharashtra — will have faster train connectivity. The railway administration had vouched to bring the commute time between Mumbai and these two cities below two hours from the current four or more. Trials of indigenously-produced MEMU rake were conducted earlier this week on the Central Railway. The Rs 25-crore upgraded MEMU rake is built along the lines of the semi-high speed train, Train 18, which runs as Vande Bharat Express between Delhi and Varanasi and has cut travel time between the two cities by 40 per cent. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com