At least 3,100 suburban services and 260 long-distance trains will be fully or partially cancelled amid the 29-day block on the Western Railway in Mumbai. The block, which began on October 7, has been put in place for the construction of the sixth line between Khar and Goregaon railway stations, an official said.
According to an official statement, approximately 2,700 suburban services are scheduled for cancellation, and around 400 services will experience partial disruptions or short-terminations starting from October 20 onwards. Additionally, it is anticipated that during the block period, there will be at least 60 full cancellations of long-distance trains and 200 instances of partial cancellations or short terminations.
Despite the huge quantum of work involved, the block has been meticulously planned to ensure minimum disruption of rail traffic and inconvenience to passengers, Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer of Western Railway, said. He further said that the block has been planned so that there is no cancellation of trains in the initial 10 to 13 days. The Western Railway has undertaken the work of a fast-tracking the sixth line project between Khar and Goregaon stations, covering 8.8 km, the release said.
As a part of this work, platform number 9 of Andheri station closed from the intervening night between October 19 and 20 until the completion of the non-interlocking work, it said. A 24-hour mega block will be undertaken from 9 pm on November 19 to 9 pm on November 20 at Bandra Terminus for the cut-and-connect of rail tracks, the release said.