Brace for 7.5-hr block on Central Railway tonight

Commuters using the Central Railway (CR) suburban services need to find alternative means of transport from 10.45pm on Saturday to 6.30am on Sunday, as the CR is imposing a seven-and -a-half hour special block between the CST and Thane section.

Commuters using the Central Railway (CR) suburban services need to find alternative means of transport from 10.45pm on Saturday to 6.30am on Sunday, as the CR is imposing a seven-and -a-half hour special block between the CST and Thane section.

The block has been planned for testing the power supply system before switching to 25,000-volt alternate current from the exiting 1,500-volt ‘direct current’ (DC-AC conversion) between CST and Thane sections.

To help commuters, the CR has announced 27 special services from Thane and Kalyan, besides asking municipal transport bodies such as the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) to arrange extra bus services. However, the BEST has announced only 10 extra services.

Once the last train – a Karjat fast – departs from CST at 11.18pm, there will be no trains to reach Thane; similarly, from Kalyan, the last train for CST will leave at 9.40pm. In absence of direct buses to and fro Thane, passengers will be forced to depend on auto rickshaws and taxis, a costlier and more troublesome process.

“The state government had informed us to contact BEST and other municipal transport bodies, as per the disaster management plan. Hence, we had asked them to plan extra services,” said Mukesh Nigam, divisional railway manager of Mumbai Division of CR.

According CR official, while the block is expected to end around 6.15am, services may remain affected till 9am.