Starting from May 30th (Thursday midnight) to June 2nd (Sunday), a 63-hour ‘ jumbo mega block’ has been announced by Mumbai Central Railway. The mega block is to facilitate platform widening and extension projects at two important railway stations.
The Central Railway typically operates its local train services across 4 corridors including Main, Harbour, Trans-Harbour, and Uran. It controls the functioning of over 1800 local trains that cater to the commuting needs of 30 lakh+ individuals. The 63-hr jumbo mega block is expected to disrupt these local train operations between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Thane stations. Swapnil Nila, the CPRO of Central Railways, stated that due to the mega block, 956 suburban trains and 72 Mail Express trains have been canceled.
Rajneesh Goyal, the Divisional Railway Manager of the Mumbai division addressed a press conference announcing the mega block. He stated that, of the 930 canceled local trains, 161 will be canceled on May 31st, 534 on June 1st, and 235 on June 2nd. Besides, a total of 444 suburban services will be short-terminated across the weekend. Not just local trains, but even long-distance mail/express trains are also expected to be affected by the mega block. According to reports, both rail services operating from Dadar, Thane, Wadala, Panvel, Pune, and Nashik stations will be short-terminated and short-originated.
The platform extending and widening project will be carried out on Sunday at 3:30 PM. Thane’s platforms 5 and 6 which handle both local and long-distance trains are currently facing issues like overcrowding due to their narrow width. Under this project, these platforms will be widened by 2-3 meters, and a few other amenities like escalators and broad Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) will be installed.
Since local trains are Mumbai’s “lifeline”, the Central Railway has taken measures to comfort the life of its passengers. They have requested companies and firms to allow work-from-home for their staff over the mega block weekend. They have also requested Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) to operate extra buses for passengers’ convenience.