The Government has approved Ministry of Railways plan to construct the New Line between Vaibhavwadi – Kolhapur (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahumaharaj Terminus) (108 km) with an estimated cost of Rs. 3,439 crore. The project will be completed by 2023-24 and will be executed by Construction Organization of Central Railway.

The proposed alignment from Vaibhavwadi to Kolhapur (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahumaharaj Terminus) passes through the districts of Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg of Maharashtra state. The proposed alignment would link Kolhapur railway station (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahumaharaj Terminus) on the existing Pune-Kolhapur section of Central Railway with Vaibhavwadi Railway Station on the existing Roha-Madgaon section of Konkan Railway. The proposed link would reduce the distances for thermal coal transportation for a number of power plants in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The addition of Vaibhavwadi-Kolhapur (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahumaharaj Terminus) is expected to directly benefit the districts of Belgaum, Ballari, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Latur,  & Solapur and create a shorter evacuation route to western ports as there is a lack of Rail connectivity between Central and Konkan regions leads to longer supply routes for power plants in the Northern Karnataka and Southern Maharashtra region which affects supply coming from ports like Mumbai, JNPT, Krishnapatnam and New Mangalore due to longer rail route of Ratnagiri-Panvel-Pune route.

Kolhapur cluster, as part of western Maharashtra, has a vibrant industrial belt which consists of manufacturing based industries, auto parts and ancillary, sugar manufacturing, textiles, edible oil processing factories etc. With the increased industrial development in and nearby area of west coast, imports are going to increase in future. Also, with the proposal of world class infrastructure coming up at Jaigad and Vijaydurg on the west coast, the district would be benefitting immensely. Thus, with the advent of the Vaibhavwadi-Kolhapur (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahumaharaj Terminus) line and the upcoming Vijaydurg port, Gulbarga, Adilabad and the nearby industrial clusters will be able to exploit the closeness to west coast.

There will also be reduction in distance and time taken for freight trains running on the existing Vaibhavwadi-Roha-Pune route and Miraj-Pune-Panvel-Pen route if the same is routed via the Vaibhavwadi–Kolhapur (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahumaharaj Terminus) project line. This project will also generate employment direct during construction for about 26 lakh mandays.

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VRRK/SH