Commuters on the Western Railway (WR) will continue to experience significant disruptions on Tuesday as ongoing construction for the sixth line between Goregaon and Kandivali results in speed restrictions. Trains will be limited to a speed of 30 km/h at Ram Mandir Road, Goregaon, and Malad, leading to the cancellation of approximately 175 suburban services on Monday, with similar cancellations expected on Tuesday.
An official stated that in addition to the cancelled services, other local trains will also be affected, potentially causing delays of 15 to 20 minutes due to speed restrictions.
According to sources, not only suburban services be affected, but long distance trains may also face delays of 15 to 20 minutes. However, WR expects conditions to improve beginning Wednesday, when speed restrictions on the fast line will be lifted. The number of cancellations is projected to decrease to approximately 70 on that day.
Thursday is expected to see similar conditions, with full normalization anticipated by Friday when restrictions on the slow line are also lifted. A final block of 10 hours for construction is scheduled for the night of October 5, marking the completion of the sixth line's commissioning.
"Track laying and cut-and-connection work are nearly complete, with the installation of signaling equipment also nearing completion. Testing of the signaling system is currently underway, resulting in speed restrictions. These restrictions are expected to be lifted by Wednesday on the fast corridor and by Friday on the slow corridor. Additionally, for the final commissioning of the sixth line track up to Kandivali, a major block of 10 hours will be scheduled on the night of October 5th" said an official of WR.
Looking ahead, WR aims to extend the sixth line up to Borivali by March 2025. "Once this extension is completed up to Borivali, long-distance trains currently operating from Bandra Terminus will shift to the 5th -6xth line, alleviating congestion on the third and fourth lines. This change is expected to increase the availability of path for additional local services, which currently share tracks with long-distance trains" said an official of WR.
According to Vineet Abhishek – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, speed restrictions have been imposed between Ram Mandir - Goregaon - Malad section inorder to conduct the testing of the new signalling system. This speed restriction has been imposed on all four lines, i.e. over up and down slow and fast lines. The speed restriction on up and down fast lines will be removed by Wednesday morning, i.e. 2nd October, 2024 and the number of cancellations of suburban train services on fast lines will come down from around 175 services to around 70 services. Similarly, the speed restriction on up and down Slow lines will be removed by Friday morning, i.e. 4th October, 2024. The suburban services will be normalised from Friday with no cancellations during the day time, except during block periods.
Vineet further informed that the work of 6th line between Goregaon and Kandivali will be completed by this weekend when the last and final major block for this work will be undertaken.
Four hours block
A major block of 4 hours will be taken on up and down fast lines between 12:30 am to 04:30 am and a block of 1:30 hours will be also taken on all lines between 02:00 am to 03:30 am at Goregaon during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, i.e. 1st / 2nd October, 2024 in connection with the ongoing work of 6th line between Goregaon and Kandivali stations. During the block, all Fast line local trains will run on the Slow line between Borivali and Andheri from 12:30 am to 04:30 am .
"Commuters are urged to remain patient during this period of transition, as these infrastructure improvements promise a more efficient railway system in the future" he said.
