Representative image of Mumbai Railway.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Mumbai: Daily commuters in Mumbai can face problems in travelling for a month as the Western Railway (WR) is taking up the mammoth task of launching the sixth line between Goregaon-Kandivali sections in the financial capital.
The work on the 4.5 km stretch would start from the intervening night of August 27-28 and would run up to October 5-6.
However, it is to be noted that in order to minimise inconvenience to the passengers, railways will take up major portion of the work on weekends only. "To ensure minimum inconvenience to passengers, five major blocks are being taken only during weekends," the Western Railway said in a post on X on Tuesday.
According to WR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek, the work of the sixth line between Goregaon and Kandivali stations will be undertaken by taking a block of 10 hrs during the night on weekends on Saturdays / Sundays.
The work is scheduled to be completed within 35 days, he said.
To reduce difficulties during the festive season, no work will be undertaken from September 11 to 17 due to Ganpati festival.
Abhishek stated that since there is no space to lay the sixth line on the east side of Malad Station, a new line will be laid on the west side and all the existing five lines will be shifted to the west side through cut and connection.
Due to this ongoing work, a few long distance trains will be affected by 15 to 20 minutes, while suburban services will also be affected with an average of around 100 – 140 services being cancelled and around 40 services short-terminated on weekends.
It is pertinent to mention that WR has scheduled to carry out the work during the night hours so as to cause minimal disruptions on weekdays. On September 28-29 and October 5-6, non-interlocking work will be undertaken on the 5th line between Goregaon and Kandivali.
Due to this, trains running from Bandra Terminus will be regulated by 40-45 minutes.
He further informed that Goregaon - Kandivali section is part of the 5th / 6th line between Bandra Terminus and Borivali.
The 5th line is already commissioned between Bandra Terminus and Borivali while the 6th line has been commissioned between Khar Road and Goregaon.
After the completion of Goregaon - Kandivali section, the work of 6th line will commence on the Kandivali – Borivali section. With the completion of the entire project, traffic movement will be benefited in many ways including enhancing the line capacity of Mumbai suburban section.
It will ease congestion over the busy suburban and mainline tracks and improve punctuality of trains,
Trains from and to Bandra terminus will have dedicated two lines on this section. It would be beneficial to commuters on Andheri – Borivali - Virar section.