Mumbai: Mega block to hit 37 train services on Harbour, Trans Harbour Lines till Oct 2

Navi Mumbai: For the next 22 days, starting September 11, people travelling on the Harbour Line will not be able to take the early morning and late-night trains. The Central Railway (CR) has increased the number of hours dedicated to the mega block from two to five hours every night between 12.30am and 5.30am until October 2.

This will affect 37 train services on the CSMT-Panvel Harbour and Thane-Panvel Trans Harbour rail networks.

Now, the last local to depart Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) for Panvel will be 10.58pm. “We have cancelled the trains departing for Panvel from CSMT at 11.14pm, 12.24am, 5.18am and 6.40am till October 2. There are trains which will be short terminated at Belapur station instead of Panvel,” said Shivraj Manaspure, chief PRO, Central Railway.

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The CR authorities will also be cancelling trains leaving Panvel at night and early morning hours which will cause inconvenience to commuters leaving early morning to their workplaces.

The railways are constructing the Dadri-JNPT western dedicated freight corridor which will go via Panvel railway station. Sources said that they started this work on August 18 and carried out night blocks for 2-3 hours at Panvel station and yard.

“We had to increase the block time in order to meet the October 2 deadline at Panvel. We have already completed 70% of work on the entire 1,506 km right from Dadri in Delhi,” said a railway official.

There will be 24 train services on Up and Down lines on the CSMT-Panvel Harbour corridor that shall be cancelled and short terminated. Then there are 13 services on the Thane-Panvel trans harbour network which too be cancelled and short-terminated.

“All of a sudden, the CR authorities are extending their mega block and cancelling trains. Even if trains are terminated at Belapur, travelling till Panvel is a difficult task as auto rickshaws charge hefty fares. Will the railways compensate for this?” questions S Nair, a resident of Panvel who travels to South Mumbai for work.

The dedicated freight corridors are ambitious projects of Railways to boost the economy by faster movements of freight trains. The two dedicated freight corridors that are under progress are Eastern Dedicated freight corridor (EDFC) between Ludhiana and Sonnagar covering a length of 1,337 kms of which 1,150 kms are completed. The railways are running behind in completing the Dadri-JNPT 1,506 kms long Western corridor of which 1,046 kms is completed. On the above completed section, more than 1 lakh goods and freight trains have run.