Y G Patwardhan and G P Joshi, two activists of the Express Citizens' Forum which has been campaigning for the project, have welcomed the renewed attention of the Railway Ministry to the vital link, crediting it to the intervention of Minister of State Ram Naik.

The activists have suggested that long lead items like the 2.5-km tunnel near Karjat and all bridges on the 28-km route should be taken up first, preferably during this year itself.

Naik in a letter to the forum has also confirmed that tenders have already been opened for the work on the tunnel. A plan for taking up earthwork, bridge and tunnel works has been drawn up.

When commissioned, the link would reduce the distance between Pune and Mumbai by train by 22-km and the running time by more than 30 minutes. It would also provide a great relief to Karjat-Kalyan-Kurla suburban section which is at present functioning at 110 per cent of its rated capacity. This would improve the suburban service on the Central Railway.

The project was launched on January 29, 1996, during the tenure of the then Minister of State for Railways Suresh Kalmadi with an initial provision of Rs 12 crore as against the total estimated cost of Rs 89 crore. However, not even 10 per cent of the budget allocation was actually spent on the work after Kalmadi had to relinquish his portfolio. The broadguage link, as ECF activist Joshi puts it, was later ``sidetracked'' by the railway administration.

Ram Naik, who hails from Mumbai and who since the past several years had been looking into the problems of the suburban rail traffic in greater Mumbai, revived the project which is of great importance both to Pune and Mumbai.

Patwardhan and Joshi have hoped that the Railway Ministry would continue to make enough provisions in the budgets for the next few years and commission the link on schedule in the year 2002. However, they maintained that to ensure the expeditious completion, Maharashtra government should share the cost either through CIDCO or through the newly formed Mumbai Railway Vikas Nigam. Alternatively, they suggest, the project could be handed over to the Konkan Railway Corporation.

What is envisaged in the first phase is only a single electrified broadguage line. For most of the important trains between Pune and Mumbai to be diverted on this route a double line is imperative, they point out. Besides, a bridge in Mumbai allowing the transfer of the diverted through trains from this line to the main line between Kurla and Dadar is also necessary.

Once commissioned, important trains like Deccan Queen, Indrayani, Shatabdi and Pragati would take this new route. Instead of taking a detour on reaching Karjat via Kalyan and Thane, these trains would turn left first to Panvel, then to Navi Mumbai and then enter the Mumbai island city via Mankhurd.

A few upcountry trains running between Mumbai and the south also can take this shorter route.

Some other trains, however, will have to continue running via Kalyan to provide a link for passengers from the south travelling further north. A halt at Kalyan and Thane will also be necessary for these trains for the convenience of the population in these two satellite cities of Brihan Mumbai.

But diversion of superfast trains is not the only gain of the link. Much of the goods traffic from the Jawaharlal Nehru port at Nhava Sheva to the southern states would be diverted on this route, thereby taking a substantial load off the main line between Kalyan and Karjat.