After CSMT-Goregaon, railway minister wants Mumbai’s harbour line extended to Borivli

Regular harbour line services to Goregaon will be operational from Sunday, April 1

Harbour line commuters can rejoice. Not only did Union railway minister Piyush Goyal inaugurate the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Andheri harbour line extension up to Goregaon on Thursday, but he also announced that the line would soon be extended till Borivli.

After the function, Union railway minister Piyush Goyal also hopped on to the first local train that departed from Goregaon. (SATYABRATA TRIPATHY/HT)

The regular harbour line service to Goregaon will be operational from Sunday, April 1. It will allow commuters from Goregaon to travel directly to CSMT, without changing the train at Dadar. There will be 49 daily services. While the central railway will run 42 services, the western railway will run seven on the stretch every day. The move will also help decongest Andheri railway station. The 5.12-km extension from Andheri to Goregaon, which was delayed by four years, was carried out at a cost of Rs214 crore.

“The railway line, which has reached Goregaon, will soon be extended till Borivli. It will allow passengers to travel directly to Borivli from CSMT, without changing trains,” said Goyal, adding they have given approval to build CST-Panvel elevated corridor, Panvel-Virar corridor and several other projects.

Extension of the Harbour corridor from Goregaon to Borivli will cost Rs745 crore.

In his 20-minute speech, Goyal counted various steps taken by the Modi government to improve suburban railway commute. Goyal said that their government has approved Rs55,000-crore projects by adopting an integrated approach.

After the function, he also hopped on to the first local train that departed from Goregaon.

Referring to traffic snarls in the city, Goyal urged citizens to bear with the trouble owing to ongoing infrastructure works. “Short term pain leads to long term gain,” he said.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis skipped the function, as he was in Delhi to end social activist Anna Hazare’s agitation. Significantly, the Shiv Sena boycotted the function.

Experts termed the extension a boost to the suburban railway. “Local trains carry 75 lakh passengers daily. The plan to extend the line to Borivli is welcome,” said transport expert Ashok Datar.

Railway minister also said they will able to run at least 33% more services by adopting the advanced cab signaling system, which will allow trains one after the other with minimum headway.