Railways clears 1.72 bn chord line to ease Panvel freight congestion

Indian Railways has approved the construction of the Somtane–Chikhli Chord Line near Panvel, Maharashtra at an estimated cost of 1.72 bn, in a move aimed at improving freight movement, reducing congestion at Panvel Junction and strengthening connectivity linked to Jawaharlal Nehru Port. Announced by the Ministry of Railways, the project involves the construction of a new 3.7-kilometre rail chord line on Central Railway that will connect Somtane on the Roha route with Chikhli on the Karjat route.

The project addresses a long-standing operational bottleneck in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, where freight trains moving between the Karjat, Jasai and Roha corridors currently have to enter the heavily congested Panvel Junction and undergo engine reversal before continuing their journey. A chord line is a short connecting rail section built between two existing routes, allowing trains to bypass busy junctions and travel directly between corridors. In this case, the new link will allow freight trains to move seamlessly between Karjat and Roha without entering Panvel.

Panvel Junction is among the busiest railway junctions in the region, handling train traffic from Roha, JNPA, Karjat and Diva. The absence of a direct connection between the Karjat and Roha routes has created operational delays and reduced network efficiency.The project is expected to deliver major benefits for cargo linked to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, India’s largest container gateway, which handles nearly 60 percent of the country’s container traffic. Freight trains serving the port currently face delays due to routing constraints and time-consuming engine reversals at Panvel.

According to Indian Railways, the new chord line will reduce freight train detention time by approximately 110 minutes per train, significantly improving turnaround times and overall logistics efficiency. The line is also expected to support the movement of an additional nine million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of freight traffic after completion, creating additional network capacity to support rising cargo volumes.

Railway officials said the project complements previously approved Panvel Elevated Chord Lines on the JNPA–Karjat and JNPA–Roha sections and closes a critical missing link in western India’s freight connectivity network. The approval forms part of Indian Railways’ broader strategy to strengthen freight infrastructure, improve multimodal connectivity and support India’s growing logistics and trade requirements through targeted capacity expansion projects.