Elevated corridor till Bandra unviable
The state government has made the suggestion that the Western Railway (WR) elevated corridor be terminated at Bandra. This may make the project unviable due to low commuter volume. There was a difference of opinion among the railways, the Planning Commission and the state government about the elevated corridor project. After a meeting of the chief minister and the PM in November last year, a study on passenger projections was commissioned. The study was of passenger volume projections. Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) was appointed by Western Railway to carry out the study and to ascertain the drop in passenger numbers owing to the elevated corridor running alongside Metro III (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) and Metro II (Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd).
The ridership (passenger volume) of the existing WR corridor is 35 Lakh people per day. Ridership of the Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor was estimated to be 9 lakh passengers per day at 2013 levels. The study arrived at this figure after assuming that around 50% of first-class passengers and 20% of second-class passengers will shift to the elevated corridor. This will essentially mean 23% commuter shift from the existing WR corridor.
The ridership figure for a Virar-Bandra elevated corridor at 2013 levels is estimated at 5.50 lakh passengers per day and the loss in ridership is estimated to be 40%, making the project financially unviable.
Source: The Times of India
Bandra, Colaba, Elevated corridor, Metro, metro III, Mumbai, Passengers, Planning Commission, Rail India Technical and Economic Services, Railway, ridership, Rites, Western Railway
