Ninety-six years down the line, the Harbour line on Central Railway, where the first EMU train made its debut in Bombay, will get a major upgrade. Starting December 1, the Central Railway (CR) will introduce 12 air-conditioned local train services on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Vashi/Panvel Harbour line. In February 1925, the first EMU train ran on Victoria Terminus (present-day CSMT) – Coorla (present Kurla) Harbour corridor.
To facilitate the new services, CR authorities will replace as many existing non-AC services. Currently, AC locals are being run on the Main line and trans-Harbour corridors.
“This is the first time we will run AC trains on Harbour line. These AC local train services will be operated from Monday to Saturday,” said CR Chief PRO Shivaji Sutar.
The first AC local will depart Vashi station at 4.25am for CSMT, after which 11 other services will run end-to-end on the CSMT-Panvel corridor, with the last AC local leaving CSMT at 8pm. On Sundays and holidays, this AC local will be replaced by regular service. CR is operating 26 AC locals in all, 16 on the trans-Harbour line between Thane-Vashi-Panvel and the remaining 10 on the Main line.
The decision comes at a time when the Railways ministry is considering increasing AC local services in the suburban corridors of Mumbai. Last week, the Western Railway added 8 more AC trains, taking the total of such services to 20. Interestingly, most of these AC trains have begun on the slow corridor. In the near future, the ministry may convert all local trains to those with AC compartments.
The CR will also extend all trains connecting to WR via Harbour line from CSMT to Goregaon, taking the total services to 106. This is a more than 2.5-time jump, considering it is running 42 services on the CSMT-Goregaon route. This will help the 6-8 lakh (current approximate numbers) people using the Harbour network to commute from Navi Mumbai.
The revised suburban timetable for Harbour, trans-Harbour and the fourth corridor i.e. Belapur/Nerul-Kharkopar line will be implemented from December 1. This would also mean that all trains on the CSMT/Panvel-Andheri corridor will be extended till Goregaon. At present, 44 services are operated between CSMT and Andheri and 18 services are run on the Panvel-Andheri section. The two services running between CSMT and Bandra too will be extended till Goregaon.
KEEPING TRACK
Total number of services from/to Goregaon will increase from 42 to 106
Total number of services from/to Bandra will be 86 from 88
Total number of services on Harbour line will be 614 and trans-Harbour line will be 262
Total number of suburban services on Mumbai Division will be 1,774
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