Indian Railways Approves Chouk-Karjat Railway Doubling

Indian Railways approved the doubling of the 10.86-km Chouk-Karjat railway section in Maharashtra on 18 September 2026. The project has an approved cost of ₹497 crore and falls under the Central Railway zone.

Railway Doubling

Railway doubling is the addition of a second track on an existing single-line section. It is used on busy routes to increase line capacity and to improve train movement on mixed passenger and freight corridors.

Chouk-Karjat Section

The Chouk-Karjat section is part of the Panvel-Chouk-Karjat route in Maharashtra. The route carries both passenger trains and freight traffic, and it connects rail movement in the Mumbai metropolitan region with inland rail links.

Project Features

• The project covers a railway length of 10.86 km.
• The sanctioned cost of the work is ₹497 crore.
• The section comes under Central Railway, one of the 18 railway zones of Indian Railways.
• The doubling work is linked with capacity augmentation on the existing network.

Operational Capacity

The project is expected to allow five additional passenger trains in each direction every day after completion. It is also projected to support an additional freight traffic volume of 18.35 Million Tonnes Per Annum, or MTPA.

Related Railway Works

Indian Railways uses doubling, tripling, quadrupling, flyover, and bypass projects for network expansion. These works are part of infrastructure planning for sections with higher traffic density and operational constraints.

Important Facts for Exams

• Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest railway networks under single management.
• Central Railway is a zonal railway of Indian Railways headquartered in Mumbai.
• Railway capacity augmentation includes doubling, tripling, and quadrupling of tracks.
• MTPA stands for Million Tonnes Per Annum and is used to measure freight handling capacity.