The Western Railway (WR) is inviting public opinion before it finalises the alternating timetable and plans to organise a day-long public debate on the issue.
"Mumbai has changed a lot geographically, with populations shifting to the suburbs and new areas like the Bandra-Kurla Complex being developed," said Additional General Manager Vivek Sahai. "To cope with the growing crowd, we thought we needed to change the train-scheduling concept. Hence the idea of the skipping halts, which can help clear crowd faster."
He, however, admitted that the changes in the new timetable will benefit many and inconvenience some. "It's an experiment," added Sahai.
"We plan to organise a day-long seminar in December for passenger associations and commuters. If required, we can have another debate. But there’s no hurry to implement the new timetable," Sahai said.
Even the Central Railway plans to implement an alternate halts timetable and is distributing feedback forms.
Meanwhile, Malad commuters, MLAs and corporators attended a meet on Wednesday held to protest the new timetable under which all existing Malad locals would be cancelled.
Email Rajendra Aklekar: rajendra.aklekar@hindustantimes.com