Mumbai local train update: New suburban railway timetables aim to ease congestion and expand services

The fast train platform at Kalwa

The growing Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) is the focus of both the new suburban railway (CR and WR) timetables that were announced earlier this week. While the Central Railway (Mumbai) timetable comes into effect from October 5, the Western Railway one comes into effect on October 12. On CR, it will be for the first time since the 2022 inauguration by the prime minister that the fast train platforms at Kalwa and Mumbra will be put to use and have fast train halts. On WR, there will be more trains to Dahanu. The area between Kalwa and Mumbra stations is also where the maximum deaths due to crowding occur.

The focus has been to shift more services from south Mumbai - Churchgate and Mumbai CSMT - to central and north Mumbai stations like Dadar and Parel, Thane, Kalyan, Virar and Dahanu as statistics indicate an unprecedented rise in passengers at these stations over the years.

The average footfall of passengers on the Vaitarna-Dahanu section till August 2024 has gone up by 6.26 per cent compared to the same period last year.

CR suburban timetable

The main highlights of the CR Mumbai timetable include the extension of 24 Dadar-originating/terminating trains up to Parel, extension of six Thane originating/terminating trains up to Kalyan, utilising new platform no. 11 of Dadar to decongest CSMT by shifting 11 pairs of fast services originating from/terminating at CSMT to Dadar.

The fast train platform at Mumbra

The fast train platforms at Kalwa and Mumbra stations will now get a halt for a few fast local train services during the peak hours. The halt had also been a long-pending demand of commuters beyond Thane. Earlier, there were semi-fast train halts at these two stations. The new additional halts at Kalwa and Mumbra have been provided in both morning and evening peak hours for trains. In the morning peak hours, train no. A20 at 8.56 am will halt at Kalwa and train no. AN8 at 9.23 am will halt at Mumbra. In the evening peak hours, train BL41 will halt at Kalwa at 7.29 pm and train no. TL47 at 7.47 pm will halt at Mumbra station.

WR suburban timetable

WR Mumbai's new suburban timetable has the introduction of 12 new suburban services, six services extended, and ten 12-car services upgraded to 15-car services. The total number of services plying on WR's Mumbai suburban section will now increase from 1,394 to 1,406.

Four new services have been introduced between Dahanu Road and Virar. This is to fulfil the demands of the people from this region.

Elaborating further, a spokesperson said out of six new services in the Churchgate direction, only one fast service will run from Virar to Churchgate while two slow services from Dahanu Road to Virar, and one slow service each from Andheri, Goregaon and Borivli to Churchgate, highlighting the importance of the suburbs.

Of the six new services in the Virar direction, one fast service will run from Churchgate to Nallasopara, two slow services will run from Churchgate to Goregaon, one slow service from Churchgate to Andheri and two slow services from Virar to Dahanu Road. Ten existing 12 coach services have been upgraded to 15 coach services, hence total no. of 15 coach services will increase from 199 to 209.

Commuter voices

Mumbra commuter Nazim Ansari said that the railways had cut short services after the new lines had come into effect and that they should restore them. "Mumbra-Kalwa used to have semi-fast halts for more than 19 trains in the entire day. After the fast local track was built, they cut the semi-fast halts to 10 locals. They are trying to fool commuters again by giving back only four local service halts to Kalwa and Mumbra. They should have a halt at Mumbra and Kalwa for all local trains that stop at Diva, or give us Thane-Kalyan locals," he said.

Siddhesh Desai, secretary of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, said, "Most of the overcrowding-related accidents occurred in Kalwa and Mumbra due to the highest density of passengers in trains. We welcome the decision of fast train halts but completion of the Kalwa-Airoli Link and starting carshed trains from Parsik is a solution to stop the accidents."

Prathamesh Prabhutendolkar, joint secretary of the Dahanu Vaitarna Pravasi Sevabhavi Sanstha said, "Western Railway has introduced new services beyond Virar, but these don't seem to meet the peak-hour, peak-direction demands of commuters. Additionally, the request for starting 15-car EMUs to accommodate the growing crowd beyond Virar has been a long-standing issue, with no significant steps taken over the past several years despite repeated requests. It can be frustrating when rail authorities give stereotypical responses without addressing the core need."

Himanshu Vartak, passenger member of the consultative committee for Palghar station and member of Dahanu Vaitarna Pravasi Sevabhavi Sanstha, said, "Four new services have been introduced between Dahanu Road and Virar, up from one service in the morning peak hours, which will be really helpful for office and college goers. This is to fulfil demands of the people from this region."

2
No. of CR stations - Kalwa and Mumbra - which will get fast train halts during peak hours

24
No. of trains terminating at Dadar now extended to Parel

6.26 per cent
Average increase in footfall on the Vaitarna-Dahanu sector over the last one year

Commuter voices

Nazim Ansari, Mumbra commuter
‘Mumbra-Kalwa used to have semi-fast halts for more than 19 trains in the entire day. After the fast local track was built, they cut the semi-fast halts to 10 locals. They are trying to fool commuters again by giving back only four local service halts to Kalwa and Mumbra'

Prathamesh Prabhutendolkar, Dahanu Vaitarna Pravasi Sevabhavi Sanstha
‘Western Railway has introduced new services beyond Virar, but these don't seem to meet the peak-hour, peak-direction demands of commuters'

Metro Red Line 7, Yellow Line 2A commuters suffer

Commuters on the Red Line 7 and Yellow Line 2A faced problems due to a technical snag in the signalling system on Friday. "The WR has been running erratic services due to their Malad block. We thought the Metro services were dependable, but they too faced delays on Friday," a commuter said. There was a stampede-like situation at Andheri West and D N Nagar station due to the chaos. There was no official communication of the disruption, leading to more confusion. A Metro official said that due to a technical issue in signalling, a Metro train was halted between Gundavli and Mogra for 4-5 minutes. Once the issue was resolved, two Metro trains arrived at Gundavli within a span of just one minute, leading to crowding in the holding area. "However, we were able to clear the rush swiftly."

10-hr block between Goregaon-Kandivli

A major block of 10 hours will be enforced during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday (October 5-October 6) on the 5th line from 11 pm to 9 am between Goregaon and Kandivli and a block of four and a half hours will be in force on Churchgate-bound fast lines from 11 pm to 3.30 am between Kandivli and Goregaon, in connection with the ongoing work of 6th line between Goregaon and Kandivli stations. During the period, all Churchgate fast local trains will run on the slow line from Borivli and Andheri, and a few suburban trains will be cancelled/short-terminated.

Oct 5-6
Period when the megablock will be put in place