Mumbai, November 11: The first phase of the long-awaited Nerul-Seawood-Uran railway line will be opened to commuters on November 12. Central Railway has planned to run 40 services daily, out of which 20 will run between Nerul and Kharkopar and 20 will run between Kharkopar and Belapur. Earlier today, the Nerul-Belapur-Seawoods-Kharkopar line was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The rail services are opening after facing several delays over the past year as the project was slated to be ready by December 2017. The first service from CBD Belapur will start at 6.22 a.m and from Kharkopar it will depart at 6.50 a.m. IRCTC to go? New Name For Train Ticket Booking Website, App Likely Soon.

The work on the project began in 1997 but due to various unforeseen reasons, the work was delayed and later stalled, until the project was revived in 2011. The original estimated cost of the project was Rs 495 crore in 1997, which was escalated to Rs 1, 782 crores. The cost is shared by City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) and Indian Railways in 67:33 ratio.

In the first phrase, Central Railway is going to open only a 12-kilometre stretch, up to Kharkopar. Railway officials have said the deadline for completing phrase 2 is 2020 if the land acquisition and environmental clearance is done smoothly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 11, 2018 01:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).