E-Paper
Third line works still going on as rail traffic on Karjat–Lonavala Ghat still disturbed
Restoration of the third line is being carried out round-the-clock and includes removal of huge mounds of debris, strengthening of embankments, and repair of damaged tracks
Reconstruction of the third railway line in Central Railway’s (CR’s) Karjat-Lonavla south east ghat section is still underway, with authorities taking phased traffic blocks to facilitate restoration work in the difficult mountainous terrain. Owing to challenging geographical conditions and the need to ensure passenger safety, several important express trains have been cancelled till July 28, while routes of several others have been diverted. The CR has appealed to passengers to check the latest train schedules before commencing their journey.
As per the information shared by the railways, restoration of the third line is being carried out round-the-clock and includes removal of huge mounds of debris, strengthening of embankments, and repair of damaged tracks. As the work requires extensive engineering operations in the sensitive ghat section, phased traffic blocks are being taken to allow teams to safely complete the restoration without compromising train operations on the other lines.
Meanwhile, trains cancelled till July 28 include train number 22157 CSMT-Chennai Express, 22732 CSMT-Hyderabad Express, 22944 Indore-Daund Express (July 25-27), 20495 Jodhpur-Hadapsar Express (July 25-–27) and 11041 Dadar-Sainagar Shirdi Express (July 25). In the reverse direction, train number 22158 Chennai-CSMT Express, 22731 Hyderabad-CSMT Express (July 25–27), 22943 Daund-Indore Express, 20496 Hadapsar-Jodhpur Express, and 11042 Sainagar Shirdi-Dadar Express (July 26) have also been cancelled.
Many long-distance trains have been diverted through alternate routes during the block period. Trains 18519, 22102 and 11018 will operate via Daund-Manmad-Igatpuri-Kalyan. Trains 20919, 22193, 22718 and 16614 will run via Daund-Manmad-Jalgaon-Bhusaval-Paldhi-Surat. Train 20821 will operate via the Daund cord line-Manmad-Bhusaval route; while train 20822 will run via the Manmad-Daund cord line. Similarly, trains 18520 and 11017 will be diverted via Kalyan-Manmad-Daund-Solapur; trains 22717, 20968 and 16613 via Surat-Paldhi-Manmad-Daund-Solapur; and train 22194 via Surat-Paldhi-Manmad.
“I had planned my journey weeks in advance but the sudden cancellation has completely disrupted my travel. While the inconvenience is frustrating, passenger safety must remain the top priority. I only hope the restoration work is completed quickly and train services return to normal soon,” said Rahul Patil, a passenger whose journey from Pune to Mumbai was affected.
The CR has also announced short termination and short origination of a few train services. Train number 11140 Hospet-CSMT Express (July 24-27) will terminate at Pune instead of CSMT. Train number 11030 Kolhapur-CSMT Express (July 25–28) will terminate at Khadki; while train number 11029 CSMT-Kolhapur Express (July 25–28) will originate from Pune instead of CSMT. Likewise, train number 11139 CSMT-Hospet Express (July 25–28) will originate from Khadki.
