High speed rail track along Samruddhi being evaluated

Nagpur: A proposal to have a high speed rail track along the Samruddhi expressway is being assessed. If it materializes, both high speed road and rail would run together. Currently, the matter is at the assessment stage.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which has built the expressway, and National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHRSC) are asseessing the possibility of laying the tracks along the highway.
Managing director of MSRDC, Radheshyam Mopalwar told TOI that various aspects including the quantum of land to be acquired for the rail project are being assessed now.
Meanwhile, sources said the Samruddhi corridor is one of the choices because it is the shortest route to Mumbai from Nagpur, so the train running side by side will also need lesser distance.
On November 30, MSRDC, state government and Korean government had singed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for installing a traffic management system on the Samruddhi corridor. “However, first the traffic pattern of the highway will have to be studied. The actual flow of traffic would be known only after a period of time. The system will ensure accident prevention and management on the highway,” he said.
The Samruddhi expressway would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Locals have complained that the road has not only barred their access to the other side but the MSRDC has also built a compound wall along their holdings.
On this, Mopalwar said that such walls are there along all the access-controlled roads across the world. “The walls have been built along the farmland for the safety of locals. This would even prevent cattle from straying into the highway and getting hit by speeding vehicles,” he said.
On the villagers’ access to other side being cut off, Mopalwar said the locals don’t have to take a detour of more than 250 metres in any of the stretches.