4 more locals on WR from February 1

These services will augment the carrying capacity on the 60-km Churchgate-Virar corridor by 30,000-40,000 passengers per day

Mumbai: Railway commuters on the Virar-Dahanu route are miffed as new train services slated to be introduced from February will give them a miss. From February 1, the Western Railway (WR) will introduce two new trains each in the up and down directions on the Virar-Churchgate route, while another 4-6 new services are likely to be introduced by mid-February.

Image for representation (HT PHOTO)

Altogether, these services will augment the carrying capacity on the 60-km Churchgate-Virar corridor by 30,000-40,000 passengers per day.

Rail passenger associations on the Virar-Dahanu route said the move was indicative of the step-motherly treatment the railways meted out to passengers on the stretch.

“We have written to the rail authorities asking them to consider running more train services or at least augment the 12-car trains to 15-car during peak hours. This will benefit commuters on the Virar-Dahanu stretch a lot,” said Prathamesh Prabhutendolkar, member, Vaitarna Pravasi Sevabhavi Sanstha.

Over the years, daily ridership on the 60-km Virar-Dahanu stretch has touched 1.25 lakh. The WR runs more than 60 services, including local trains and shuttles, connecting various stations on this stretch with stations on the Virar-Churchgate route.

From February 1, WR will introduce four new 12-car non-AC services – two services will run between Bhayandar and Bandra while the other two will run between Bhayandar and Churchgate. With this, the total number of suburban services on WR’s Mumbai suburban section will go up from 1,406 to 1,410.

Minor changes would be made in timings of some existing suburban services once the four new services are introduced, WR sources said.

“Among the 4-6 more services likely to be introduced by mid-February, some may run on the Fast corridor,” a WR official said.

Another WR official said new local train services could be introduced as work on the sixth line between Kandivali and Borivali was now complete.

“After commissioning of the sixth line, all Bandra Terminus-bound long distance trains have been shifted to the fifth and sixth lines between Borivali and Bandra Terminus, resulting in improved operational efficiency,” the official said.

The full impact of operationalisation of the fifth and sixth lines between Bandra and Borivali will be felt by April when the revised timetable comes into effect, WR officials said,

“Once we rejig the timetable in April, we will have scope to add 8-12 more services. We might extend some of these services till Dahanu,” the official quoted earlier said.

The new services could be between Churchgate and Dahanu or Virar and Dahanu, the official added.