Carnac bridge reconstruction: CR to impose 6-hour mega block over the weekend

Mumbai's 150-year-old Carnac bridge reconstruction enters a key phase, with major train disruptions expected during weekend girder launches

Mumbai: The 150-year-old British-era Carnac bridge which is being rebuilt after its demolition in 2022 has entered a critical phase. The Central Railway (CR) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are jointly going to launch girders for the road over the bridge for which two back-to-back mega blocks will be undertaken over the weekend.

The British-era Carnac Bridge between CSMT and Masjid Bunder station was dismantled in 2022. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The most important block will begin on the night of October 12-13. According to CR officials, special traffic and power blocks will be operated to launch open web girders for the reconstruction of Carnac ROB (span-1) between CSMT-Masjid stations using road cranes.

“The block will begin at midnight and continue for six hours on the night of Saturday -Sunday. The trains on the fast, slow and harbour lines will not be available during this period between Byculla/Wadala and CSMT stations,” said CR chief PRO, Dr Swapnil Nila.

The Up and Down suburban local train services on the Main Line will be short-terminated and originate at Byculla, Parel and Kurla stations. While on the Harbour Line, trains will be short-terminated and originate at Wadala Road station.

According to CR officials, the last local from CSMT to Titwala on the slow line will be at 11.42 pm, while the last local for CSMT will depart Ambernath on the slow line reaching Kalyan at 10.14 pm. On the fast line, the Kasara-CSMT train will reach Kalyan at 10.33 pm.

The first local from CSMT will be a Titwala slow departing at 6.14am, and CSMT-Badlapur will depart at 6.24am on the fast line. The first slow train will depart Kasara while the fast train will depart Karjat till CSMT.

Likewise on the Harbour Line, the last local on CSMT-Panvel will depart at 11.30 pm and for Goregaon it will leave CSMT at 11.26 pm. The last local for CSMT will depart Panvel at 10.23 pm and at 10.49 pm from Bandra. The first train from CSMT will be at 6.16 am for Vashi/Panvel and 6.28 am for Bandra/Goregaon. The first train for CSMT from Panvel would be at 5.05 am and at 5.33 am from Goregaon. At least 20 long-distance trains will be affected as they will be short-terminated and originate from Dadar and Panvel.

Sources in CR said that in total seven blocks will be undertaken. This will include one block of six hours, three of three hours each and three more blocks of two hours each. Significant train cancellations are expected on the day of the six-hour railway block that is happening on the night of October 12-13 while others will have a lesser impact on the services.

The initial plan was to launch the girders before the monsoon this year. The over 150-year-old Carnac bridge, located between CSMT and Masjid stations, was dismantled by the railways in November 2022. BMC had hoped to have the new one ready by March 2025 but now expects to finish the work before the next monsoon.

The assembly of the 70m long and 9.5m wide girders weighing around 550 tonnes is complete. The new bridge will be 70m long and 26.5m wide and will cost around ₹41 crore. The bridge’s closure has significantly increased traffic on alternative routes, forcing motorists to take detours to access areas such as Crawford Market and Kalbadevi.