Bullet train station in BKC a nuisance: MMRDA

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is firm on its stand of not allotting land for the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).

“There is no such reservation under the plan of BKC for availing land for something like a railway station. Having a bullet train station is like inviting a nuisance in such a planned area like that of BKC,” said a bureaucrat of MMRDA who did not want to be named.

“Also, how are we supposed to provide land in a place like BKC where the prices of land are sky-high. How will MMRDA fund major infrastructure projects in the city if costly land is given for a bullet train? With a station, there will many other things like that of a taxi and auto-stand, the traffic will increase and there will be other basic infrastructure required if a terminal for India’s first bullet train is constructed. We cannot accommodate the burden,” added the bureaucrat.

Last month, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had also written to the Union railway ministry expressing that the state government will not be able to provide land for a bullet train at BKC. The railways ministry was informed to use its vacant plots at Kurla and Dadar for the terminal of bullet train.

However, a railway ministry official on condition of anonymity, “We are currently conducting a micro study on the alignment and other issues related to the corridor and all the factors relating to the construction of terminals and car-depots for the bullet train will be re-studied. It will be too early for us to comment on the suggestions given by the state government of Maharashtra.”

“We have formed a special joint committee that will consider all the hyper-local issues related to the High Speed Railway Corridor (HSRC),” added the railway ministry official.

“The committee comprises the NITI Aayog vice-chairman, the secretary of the department of industrial policy and promotion, the foreign secretary and the economic affairs secretary with the railway board chairman,” he further said.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 98,000 crore and this could possibly increase by Rs 10,000 crore in case of an elevated corridor.

The top speed of the train will be 300 to 350 kmph. It’ll start at BKC and have halts at Thane, Virar, Palghar, Vapi, Valsad and Ahmedabad, according to the initial proposal.