Indian Railways (IR) has approved the doubling of the Chouk-Karjat section (10.86-km) of Central Railway (CR) at a cost of ₹497 crore. The project has been approved under the umbrella works for doubling, tripling, quadrupling, flyover and bypass works.
The Chouk-Karjat section forms part of the Panvel-Chouk-Karjat line, an important passenger and freight corridor between Pune and JNPA /Mumbai. Doubling will provide additional capacity on the existing single-line stretch. The project is likely to add five pairs of passenger trains and additional freight traffic of 18.35 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) besides reducing detention of freight trains.
DPR sent last year
The detailed project report (DPR) for doubling the existing single line from Panvel to Karjat was sent to Railway Board last year for approval. The Railway Budget for last year (2025-26) also sanctioned a final location survey for construction three chord lines at Panvel namely Jasai-Karjat, Jasai-Roha and Roha-Karjat totalling 34 km. A sum of Rs 68 lakh was set aside for the survey. Once these chord lines are built, there will be no need to reverse direction of a loco at Panvel reducing detention and streamlining train operations.
Land acquisition for Panvel-Chouk multi-tracking and associated chord lines
CR in a gazette notification on July 24, 2026 declared the Central Government’s intention to acquire 1.2009 hectares of land across six villages. The land acquisition is being done to double the 17.28-km existing single line between Panvel and Chouk besides constructing a chord line between Somatne and Chikhli
Somatne-Chikhli chord line
IR on June 17, 2026 approved the construction of the Somatne-Chikhli chord line (3.7 km) on Central Railway at a cost of ₹172 crore. The new chord line will connect Chikhli on the Karjat route to Somatne on the Roha route eliminating loco reversal at Panvel Jn. The project is expected to save approximately 110 minutes per goods train.
Panvel-Karjat suburban corridor
IR’s public sector undertaking Mumbai Rail Vikas Coproration (MRVC) is on the verge of completing a 29.6 –km double line suburban corridor between Panvel and Karjat. The project will ease the life of commuters travelling from Karjat to Navi Mumbai / JNPA.