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The Western Railway Elevated Corridor, also known as the Oval Maidan-Virar elevated corridor, is a proposed rapid transit corridor, running along the same alignment as the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, that will link Oval Maidan with Virar. ==History== The Western railway elevated corridor was first proposed by then Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in the 2007 Railway Budget. The technical feasibility report for the project was prepared by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) and the French firm Systra. On 23 August 2012, Western Railway (WR) held a planning meeting with potentially interested parties at Churchgate station. The meeting included 20 companies including Reliance infrastructure, Gammon, IL&FS, Essar and GMR. According to Sharat Chandrayan, CPRO of WR, "The road-show was mainly to explain requirements for the project to prospective bidders and to understand their suggestions before bidding takes place". A delay occurred in signing of the State Support Agreement (SSA) between WR and the Government of Maharashtra due to differences of opinion between the State Government, the Planning Commission and the railways on issues related to FSI, land acquisition, shifting of underground utilities and commercial use of land. The SSA is the state's commitment to help Railways in land acquisition, shifting utility services on time and attaining more FSI to help developers generate funds. WR demanded an FSI of five for 13 land parcels across the city, in order to optimise commercial development of its existing plots as major source of funds for the project. However, the state government expressed reservations in granting an FSI up to four, saying that it would permit need-based FSI only. The project is planned to be implemented as a joint public-private partnership (PPP) project of the railways, the state government and private organisation on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis. The project received in-principle approval from Maharashtra government on 9 April 2013. The Maharashtra government sought central funding for the Mumbai Elevated Rail Corridor Project, which is aimed to revolutionise suburban commuting in the city. In August 2013, the railway ministry issued new Request For Qualification (RFQ) documents for the project, about a week after withdrawing previously issued RFQ documents. The ministry had withdrawn the documents after realizing that the dispute between the state government and the railways over the signing of the SSA was frightening off potential bidders. Six infrastructure firms – Reliance, Larsen and Toubro, GMR, Gammon, ILFS and CAF Spain – had bought the earlier RFQ document at a cost of ₹1 million (US$16,000) each.〔http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-railways-gives-ray-of-hope-for-oval-maidan-virar-elevated-corridor-1873303〕 The railway ministry announced on 17 September 2013, that the deadline for expressing interest had been extended to 29 November from 20 October. "Unless the agreement with the state government is signed it will be difficult for the project to take off", he said.〔http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Elevated-rail-corridor-project-faces-further-delay/articleshow/22669354.cms〕 The state government clarified it would not permit a higher FSI for the project, and lobbied for its own Mumbai Metro project.〔http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-04/mumbai/45859553_1_traffic-survey-corridor-indian-railways〕 The state government opposes the elevated rail corridor project, arguing that the proposed Line 3 of the Mumbai Metro Metro project between Colaba and SEEPZ follows the same route.〔 Following the November meeting, WR commissioned RITES to conduct a study on passenger volume projections if the route were shortened. The state government had suggested that the corridor be terminated at Bandra. The study found that terminating the corridor at Bandra would result in 40% reduction in passenger volume, which would make the project financially unviable.〔http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-only-till-Bandra-will-be-unviable/articleshow/33407066.cms〕 The PMO ordered a fresh traffic study for the elevated corridor in November 2013. In an infrastructure review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2013, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan stated that there should be a rethink on the project as the proposed Mumbai Metro would partially be on the same alignment as the elevated corridor. The feasibility study conducted by the Indian Railways a couple of years prior had found that the elevated corridor would have a ridership of 1.1 million in the first year of its operations. The Railways commissioned Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), its engineering arm, to conduct a fresh study as instructed by the PMO. Railways also postponed the last date for RFQ to 31 January 2013. According to a railway board official, the contract for the corridor will be awarded by May 2014, if the Maharashtra government agrees to sign the state support agreement (SSA), after the new report. The earlier date for awarding the contract, fixed by the PMO, was 31 January 2014. Eight infrastructure companies – Reliance Infrastructure, Gammon India, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), GMR Infrastructure Ltd, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), Siemens AG and Tata Realty and Infrastructure have applied for the project.〔http://www.financialexpress.com/news/mumbai-elevated-corridor-plan-on-track-says-railways/1203383〕 During the meeting, the state government clarified it would not permit a higher FSI for the project, and lobbied for its own Mumbai Metro project.〔http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-04/mumbai/45859553_1_traffic-survey-corridor-indian-railways〕 The state government opposes the elevated rail corridor project, arguing that the proposed Line 3 of the Mumbai Metro Metro project between Colaba and SEEPZ partially traverses an alignment similar to the elevated corridor.〔 Following the November meeting, WR commissioned RITES to conduct a study on passenger volume projections if the elevated corridor was allowed to operate only between Virar and Bandra. The state government had suggested that the corridor be terminated at Bandra, instead of Oval Maidan, because the proposed Line 3 of the Mumbai Metro would partially run on the same alignment as the elevated rail corridor. The study found that terminating the corridor at Bandra would result in an estimated loss in ridership of 40%, which would make the project financially unviable.〔http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-only-till-Bandra-will-be-unviable/articleshow/33407066.cms〕 The 2014 Rail Budget presented by railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge did not mention the elevated corridor, drawing criticism from railway officials and commuters who had been following the project.〔http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/churchgate-virar-corridor-ignored-718〕 In April 2014, the Railway Board instructed WR to halt all work they had undertaken with regards to the project. Subodh Jain, member (engineering) of the Railway Board, stated, "The Oval Maidan-Virar elevated corridor has gone cold due to lack of interest by the state government." The Ministry of Railways shelved the project stating that until the government shows interest in the project, there was no need to carry out any work.〔http://www.mid-day.com/articles/oval-maidan-virar-elevated-rail-corridor-after-elevating-commuters-hopes-railways-ditch-proposed-corridor/15254093〕 Following a change at the Centre and a new Railway Minister, after the 2014 general elections, there was renewed interest in the project. Chairman of Railway Board Arunendra Kumar and the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra J. Saharia met on 14 June 2014 to discuss the future of the project.〔http://www.mid-day.com/articles/state-govt-wants-to-prioritise-metro-line-3-over-elevated-corridor/15382154〕 On 8 January 2015, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced that the elevated corridor and the CST-Panvel corridor would be implemented.〔http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/2-elevated-rail-corridors-mumbai-352〕 According to a new proposal, a 6-lane road will be constructed on the same pier as the elevated rail corridors.〔http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Railways-state-government-plan-to-build-elevated-rail-road-on-same-pier/articleshow/45814338.cms〕 In March 2015, the Railways suggested terminating the south-end of the line at Andheri, in response to the Maharashtra Government's concern that extending the line to Oval Maidan or Churchgate would be complicated. Due to space constraints in South Mumbai, the southern section of the line was planned to be underground from Oval Maidan to Mahalaxmi. However, the proposed Line 3 of the Mumbai Metro would pass through the same area, requiring the construction of a tunnel at greater depth for the WR corridor. The presence of several listed heritage buildings in the area also made the task more difficult.〔http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Elevated-rail-corridor-till-Oval-Maidan-could-end-at-Andheri/articleshow/46459529.cms〕 On 5 May 2015, ''DNA'' reported that an announcement to scrap the project was expected to come soon. The paper quoted a senior railway official as stating that the project "still remained in limbo as the state and the railways couldn't sign the State Support Agreement since May 2012."〔http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-mumbai-elevated-corridor-plan-falls-by-wayside-2083324〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Western railway elevated corridor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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