Plans afoot to make Thane bullet train station into multimodal integrated hub: Civic officials

Thane, Sep 28 (PTI) The Thane Municipal Corporation plans to make the upcoming station here, which is part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor, popularly called the bullet train project, into a multimodal integrated hub, officials said on Sunday.

A TMC release said an international conference on High-Speed Railway Station Area Development was held here on September 26, which saw the participation of civic officials as well as representatives of the state and Union governments and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The station will function as a comprehensive transport junction, seamlessly integrating multiple services, it said.

"The planned development will attract investments worth crores of rupees and create significant employment. Thane will become India's first multimodal integrated station, seamlessly connecting bullet train, railways, metro, inner metro, bus services, waterways (jetty), cab/rickshaw services, and highways with the airport," the release quoted municipal commissioner Saurabh Rao as saying.

Citizens will get all public transport facilities at one location, interconnected in a well-planned, complementary manner, Rao asserted.

During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department) Asim Gupta emphasized that this move should lead to 'Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)' in Maharashtra.

The development plans for Thane and Virar HSR station areas are being prepared jointly by local municipal bodies, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the urban development departments of the state and Central governments, the release said.

More than 25 per cent of the station will be earmarked as green zones, the Thane Municipal Corporation statement informed. PTI COR BNM