Phase I
Phase I began in 2007 and ended in 2011. The total estimated cost of the MUTP Phase I is 4,526 crore (US$823.73 million). Most of the money is to be spent on railway projects while less than a fourth of the money is to be spent on road projects.
The road projects included in MUTP were Santa Cruz - Chembur link road (SCLR) and Jogeshwari - Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR). Besides the new roads, an independent Traffic Management Unit (TMU) was been set up at MCGM and it was proposed to further strengthen it. After the completion of this project, the TMU will play an important role in planning and coordinating the traffic and transportation system in the city. In addition to this, 250 state-of-the-art traffic signals were installed under the Area Traffic Control System in the Island City. The ATC would help in ensuring a smooth, fast and synchronised flow vehicular traffic which would minimize the delays at the inter-sections.
BEST's component of the MUTP budget was 125 crore (US$22.75 million). The amount was intended to procure new buses for replacement of overaged buses and to obtain technical assistance for "Institutional Restructuring & Management Information System Study. ". BEST purchased 644 single decker buses from Ashok Leyland. All buses are meet EURO III standards. Tata Consultancy Services was awarded the contract for Institutional Restructuring and Management Information System Study for BEST. The study was started on 19 September 2005 and the final report was submitted in February 2007.
Under MUTP - I, the rail component of the project called for an investment of 3,030 crore (US$551.46 million) contributed 50% each by the State Government and Indian Railways. The project planned for the laying of 5th line from Mahim to Borivali, laying of 3rd and 4th line between Borivali and Virar, EMU service between Virar and Dahanu Road, widening of tracks between Virar and Dahanu Road and laying of 5th and 6th line between Kurla and Thane are some of the works under MUTP. The scope of rail component included optimisation of Central Railway, Western Railway and Harbour Line services. Under this, all suburban trains converted into twelve coaches, increasing carrying capacity of suburban trains by 35%. Conversion from DC to AC system, the speed of trains increased substantially. EMU Coaches of new design made of stainless steel better ventilation ensuring comfortable journey and less noise pollution.
In the 2012 Rail Budget, then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, said that Phase I had been completed. The minister claimed that rail users in Mumbai had benefited with induction of 1,500 EMU coaches, increasing the carrying capacity by a third. In reality, some works had not been completed such as EMU service between Virar and Dahanu Road, conversion of all Harbour Line services to 12 coach an conversion of from AC to DC had only been completed on Western Line. However, many of these have since been completed or are in planning stages.
Read more about this topic: Mumbai Urban Transport Project
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