In what might emerge as a new suburban corridor, the Railway Board has given the go-ahead for the Panvel-Diva railway line and the Diva-Vasai railway line to be considered a permanent suburban section. The Central Railway (CR) issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday.

“Until now, we had to apply for a temporary suburban status for the two lines every six months. The Railway Board has taken into consideration the requirement of the area and directed that they be made a permanent suburban section. Declaration of this section as suburban will bring more benefits for commuters like return tickets, tourist tickets, etc. The infrastructure at the stations on the corridor will also be upgraded at par with other suburban stations,” Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, CR, said.

At present, the corridor is primarily used by freight trains and has only a handful of services of mainline electric multiple units.

Crucially, the move allows the CR to plan a suburban section in the region, which it was unable to do earlier. A senior railway official said bringing the two lines under the suburban network was the first step in the process. “Before regular local services run, a long list of factors needs to be taken into account such as availability of rakes, railway yards, stabling lines, etc. Besides, station amenities need to be raised to suburban standards,” the official said.

Until the section was brought within the suburban fold, allocating budgets for station improvement, passenger amenities, and developing other operational infrastructure would not have been possible.