Journalism of Courage
int(3)
To improve connectivity with the Konkan region, the state government has sent a proposal to the Union government to construct a terminus of the Konkan Railway at Sawantwadi, Diwakar Raote, state transport minister, said on Wednesday.
“Once this terminal is ready it will be possible to run more trains going through Sawantwadi and even special trains for the Konkan region. Currently, Konkan is not well connected to cities like Mumbai and it takes more than 10 hours to reach with the routes available now,” Raote said.
The minister added that the estimated cost for the terminal, as per the proposal, is about Rs 25 crore.
As of now, Sawantwadi is a regular station – the last station in Maharashtra – on the Konkan Railway.
Separately, Raote said that the department has started work on waiving toll for all buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in the state, so that the ticket prices reduce accordingly.
“We have already taken an in-principle decision. The only issue is that the different tolls in Maharashtra are operated by different agencies, and some by private companies on a build operate transfer basis. So the decision of a waiver has to come from all these agencies. We have started the procedure,” Raote said, adding he is currently in the process of gathering information on the different tolls in the state, and the exemptions granted, if any.
The minister added that he had also spoken to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari regarding exempting MSRTC buses, that belong to Union government agencies, from paying tolls.
