Mumbai: Central Railway to face 27-hour block from Nov 19

The Central Railway on Thursday announced a 27-hour ‘block’ from November 19 for dismantling the British-era Carnac Bridge between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Masjid Bunder station in south Mumbai. The ‘block’ will affect the movement of all local and long-distance trains. The dismantling will start from 11 pm on November 19 and will end at 2 am on November 21.

Central Railway chief PRO Shivaji Sutar said that although the block is for 27 hours, suburban local services and long-distance train movement on the main line between CSMT and Byculla will remain closed for 17 hours — from 11 pm on November 19 to 4 pm on November 20. The train traffic between CSMT and Wadala Road station on the Harbour line will remain closed for 21 hours — from 11 pm on November 19 to 8 pm on November 20.The yard line will remain shut for full 27 hours. The block is expected to affect more than 37 lakh daily local train commuters as well as those traveling in the long-distance trains. Carnac Bridge, built around 1866-67, was declared unsafe by a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) in 2018. The movement of heavy vehicles had already been stopped in 2014. During the block period, suburban local services on the main line will originate from and end at Byculla, Parel, Dadar and Kurla, while those on Harbour line will originate from and end at Wadala Road station.