Mumbai: 175 Western Railway trains to be cancelled this week

A Churchgate-bound fast train moves slowly towards its destination after switching tracks near Malad railway station on September 29. Pic/Satej Shinde

Over 175 train services on the western line will be cancelled over the week while locals will run at a tortoise-like 30 kmph between Ram Mandir Road in Goregaon and Malad on all four lines of the Western Railway (WR) till October 4 due to the addition of the sixth line. The cancellations will slowly reduce as the speed limits
are raised.

Also, morning Goregaon fast local trains will remain cancelled and at Malad, Churchgate-bound fast trains will now arrive at platform no. 3, which has been renumbered as the fourth platform.

"On Saturday night, cut and connect work of the fourth line, that is the Churchgate-bound fast line, was carried out successfully and since Sunday the platform for Churchgate fast local trains at Malad has been changed," a WR spokesperson said.

"From Monday morning, due to the work on the ongoing fifth and sixth lines, a speed restriction of 30 kmph will be imposed on all four lines between Ram Mandir Road in Goregaon and Malad. Due to this about 150-175 suburban trains will be cancelled. Speed restrictions will be relaxed in a phased manner and by October 4, services will be normal except during block duration. Due to unavailability of the Goregaon loop - a low-speed track section where trains are parked - all four fast Goregaon morning services will remain cancelled.

In addition to this, to facilitate the construction of the sixth line between Goregaon and Kandivli stations, a block of four hours will be operated on the up and down fast lines at Goregaon and on up and down fast and slow lines at Malad from 12.30 am to 4.30 am during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, ie September 30/October 1. During the block period on all lines, trains will operate only between Churchgate to Andheri and Virar to Borivli.

"Passengers are also informed that up and down Mail/Express trains will be subject to delays of approximately 10 to 20 minutes during the block period," an official said.