This news is important for you if you are traveling on Mumbai Local and Central Railway. A 72-hour megablock will be taken up on the Central Railway from February 4 to 6. This megablock will be taken for the work of 5th and 6th lanes. The fifth and sixth routes from Thane to Diva are being speeded up to streamline the local schedule while providing separate routes for mail and express trains. Mumbai Railway Development Corporation has informed that the fifth and sixth lanes will be opened from February 6. With the opening of the fifth and sixth lanes, separate lanes will be available for mail and express trains and will also help in improving the schedule of locals.
Work on Thane to Diva 5th and 6th lanes is being finalized. It was planned to take large megablocks from December 2021 to February 2022 for various works of this route. Accordingly, in December 2021, an 18-hour megablock was taken. In January 2022, a 24-hour and 36-hour megablock was taken. There will be a 14-hour megablock on January 23, the railway administration said. The block will be held from 1.20 am to 3.20 pm the next day. At that time, more than 300 local round trains will be canceled. The longest block after this block will be 72 hours. This block will be taken from 4th February to 6th February. Canceling local rounds at that time will also affect the schedule of mail and express trains.
The Central Railway can add more than 100 local trains to the schedule once the fifth and sixth lines start. Also, the passenger capacity of Central Railway will increase by 2.5 to 3 lakh passengers. That is why this work is important and it will be completed in February with the largest and last jumbo megablock of 72 hours.
So far, the fifth and sixth lanes have been constructed from Kalyan to Diva and from Thane to Kurla. Work on Thane-Diva 5th-6th line had been stalled for last ten years. The March 2019 deadline was changed several times. The deadline was June 2021. But due to Corona and consequent lockdown, the work was hampered again due to lack of manpower and other technical reasons. Therefore, it is now aimed to complete this route before March 2022.
A 72-hour megablock will be taken from February 4 to February 6 for work on Thane to Diva 5th and 6th lanes. The line will be open from February 6 once the work is completed. This will provide separate lanes for mail and express trains and will also help in improving the schedule of locals, said Ravi Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director.