By IANS,
Mumbai : The Maharashtra government Friday demanded 17 new railway lines and 17 new railway services to connect some of the most inaccessible parts of the state with major towns, cities or metros.
The demand for new services, besides other proposals, were put forth before Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, senior ministers and 28 members of parliament from the state in the evening, an official said.
The meeting, that comes ahead of the Railway Budget, saw the elected representatives seeking funds for doubling of certain existing single lines, and completion of ongoing doubling projects around the state.
Chavan pointed out to Trivedi that a proposal for an elevated railway corridor between Churchgate-Virar on Western Railway had been cleared by the state government in 2008.
The government was in the process of clearing certain hurdles in the implementation of the project, including granting floor space index, land acquisition and shifting of certain facilities.
He urged for adequate budgetary allocation to implement the proposal to connect Mumbai with the proposed new international coming up in Navi Mumbai under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project.
Among the demands put up by the MPs included: more trains on the Mumbai-Konkan sector to boost development of the backward coastal region, redevelopment of important stations like Dahisar, Borivli and Kandivli, increasing the length of suburban railway platforms to accommodate longer trains, development of the Kurla station, improvements of stations and passenger amenities with public-private participation, increasing the frequency of suburban network services, protection of slums adjacent to railway tracks and according topmost priority to safety and security of the travelling public.