French co to design Mumbai suburban AC train

In an effort to run air-conditioned suburban train services in Mumbai, the Railways have awarded the contract to a French company Systra and RITES for conducting the feasibility study of the project.

RITES alongwith Systra will undertake the feasibility study of the proposed 60 km-long Churchgate-Virar route for running elevated AC suburban rail services in Mumbai, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

The consortium was directed to submit the report, including design, cost and fare structure, by June next year, he said, adding the study's cost has been Rs 7.95 crore (Rs 79.5 million).

The multi-crore project will be the first fully air-conditioned suburban rail service in the country. It is expected that fares for the AC suburban trains will be higher than the existing charges in suburban services.

Besides the Virar-Churchgate route, the consortium will also examine the possibility of extending the elevated corridor further from Mantralaya and Nariman Point to CST.

"Initially the proposal was for the 60-km long Virar-Churchgate only. But the Maharashtra government suggested to extend it further. So the feasibility study will also examine the possibility of construction of elevated rail corridor on all the three routes," the official said.