By PTI

New Delhi:Five leading companies from across the globe including one from India have been shortlisted to undertake a feasibility study of the proposed elevated AC suburban rail corridor project in Mumbai.

“Two companies from Germany and one each from Spain, England and India have been shortlisted for the final selection of the consultant for the project,” a senior Railways Ministry official said. The decision on the consultant will be taken by end of this month.

The multi-crore project, that involves the suburban rail service from Churchgate to Virar in Mumbai, will be the first fully air-conditioned suburban rail service in the country, the official added.

The consultant will be required to do the initial planning, designing and finding possible places for the proposed 60-km long elevated suburban rail corridor project.

Besides the Virar-Churchgate route, the consultant will also examine the possibility of extending the elevated corridor further to Mantralaya and Nariman Point to CST.

“Initially the proposal was for the 60-km long Virar-Churchgate only. But the Maharashtra government suggested to extend it further. So the feasibility study will also examine the possibility of construction of elevated rail corridor on all the three routes,” said the official.

All the five players shortlisted for the job have experiences in projects related to high speed trains and urban transport, said the official. The project is likely to be executed on the public-private partnership (PPP) model.