Mumbai: The pre-Covid situation has started appearing in the local trains which are called the lifeline of Mumbai. There is a heavy rush in local trains of Central Railway and Western Railway. It is noteworthy that Mumbai’s local network is the busiest suburban network in the world. Here 75 to 80 lakh people travel daily by local. For the first time in the year 2020, the Mumbai local was stopped for the common passengers for several months during the Corona period. Prior to that, 1,774 suburban services operated on Central Railway and 1,365 on Western Railway.
Although there was a significant reduction in the number of passengers when the local trains started again after the Corona period, gradually after the situation in Mumbai came back on track, the locals started getting crowded in the peak hours as before.
Passengers crossed 40 lacks on Central Railway
At present, 1,810 local services run on the Main, Harbor, and Trans Harbor lines of the Central Railway. Through this, more than 40 lakh passengers travel daily. In view of the increasing number of passengers in the local Central Railway, Passengers Asso. Has demanded to increase the local of 15 coaches.
Local train is the only option in the suburbs
Paras Nath Tiwari, president of Rail Yatri Seva Suvidha Sangathan, said that the congestion is continuously increasing in the suburbs from Diva, Dombivali, Kalyan, Titwala to Karjat-Kasara line. Tiwari said that the local train is still the only accessible mode of transport for the common commuters of the suburbs. Local service has to be increased for crowd management in the suburbs. There is increasing demand for shuttle trains or additional local on Kalyan to Karjat and Kasara route. According to Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of the Suburban Passengers Association, the pre-Covid rush is currently happening during the peak hour. Deshmukh said that along with increasing the local service, platforms should also be made on the 5th and 6th line in Dombivali. About three lakh people are traveling daily at Dombivli station alone. There is also a demand to run some shuttle trains between CSMT Kalyan during peak hours.
The Airoli-Kalwa link will provide relief
To reduce the congestion of Thane station, it is necessary to open the Airoli-Kalwa link railway route soon. The work on Airoli-Kalwa elevated local route has started and may be completed by the end of this year. With the opening of this link road, passengers going towards Kalyan towards Navi Mumbai can directly reach Airoli from Kalwa. Similarly, work on additional rail lines from Kalyan to Karjat and Kasara will also have to be started soon.
Expansion of western suburbs
With the expansion of western suburbs from Vasai, Virar, and Nalasopara to Palghar, and Dahanu, the load on the local Western Railway has increased. In view of the increasing rush of passengers, Western Railway has started increasing the services of local trains to 15 coaches instead of 12 coaches. Western Railway is running a total of 144 15-coach services. According to Sumit Thakur, CPRO, Western Railway, converting 12-coach services to 15-coaches increases the carrying capacity of each train by 25%. A total of 1,383 services including 79 AC locals are running on Western Railway. Significantly, with the commencement of full operation of Metro 2A and 7, there is a possibility of reducing some load on the local Western Railway.
Delay in csmt parel 5th 6th line
According to a senior Central Railway official, the daily average number of passengers before Covid was around 43-44 lakh. Now it has become 40 to 41 lakhs. Considering the load of trains on the Central Railway, it is difficult to run additional local. Work is going on on the 5th and 6th lines till CSMT, after completion of this route additional local services may start, but it will take time. The target is to complete the Parel Tak project by December 2025. Presently 5th, and 6th line is available only between Kalyan and LTT. Extension of 15-car local services up to Titwala and Badlapur, the suburban terminus at Vangani, and the platform at Kalwa car shed are being sought.
