India, May 6 -- Mumbai will get its first underground rail line, if all goes according to plan. Taking a cue from the Mumbai metro, whose Line 3 is the city's first-ever underground transport corridor, the Central Railway (CR) hopes to tunnel underground to build its fifth and sixth lines between Parel/Currey Road and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CMST) in South Mumbai.

The route in question covers Phase 2 of a project to build a fifth and sixth railway corridor along the Kurla-Parel-CSMT stretch of the CR's suburban system. Phase 2 is a 7.4-km line from Parel to CSMT. Phase 1, from Kurla to Parel, covers 10.1 km and is currently underway.

Given the considerable challenges in land acquisition and rehabilitating project affected ...