Mumbai’s Central Railway shut down parts of its Main and Harbour lines on July 12 for engineering and maintenance work. For commuters it meant diversions, cancellations and a patchwork of special trains.
Main Line: slow trains move to the fast tracks
The Up and Down slow lines between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Vidyavihar were closed from 10:55 am to 3:55 pm.
Slow trains leaving CSMT between 10:48 am and 3:45 pm ran on the Down fast line instead, then dropped back onto the slow tracks. They stopped at Byculla, Parel, Dadar, Matunga, Sion and Kurla. Going the other way, Up slow trains leaving Ghatkopar between 10:19 am and 3:52 pm were pushed onto the Up fast line. Their stops before CSMT were Kurla, Sion, Matunga, Dadar, Parel and Byculla.
Harbour Line: the longer outage
The Harbour Line took the bigger hit. Down services between CSMT and Chunabhatti or Bandra were suspended from 11:40 am to 4:40 pm. Up services toward CSMT stopped from 11:10 am to 4:10 pm.
Several suburban trains linking CSMT, Vashi, Belapur, Panvel, Bandra and Goregaon were cancelled during those hours.
What the railway offered riders
Central Railway ran special suburban trains between Panvel and Kurla, using Platform 8 at Kurla, every 20 minutes for the length of the block. Harbour Line passengers could also board Central Railway’s Main Line trains and Western Railway services between 10 am and 6 pm.
The railway said the shutdown was needed for infrastructure upgrades and essential engineering work that cannot be done while trains are running. Officials described these periodic mega blocks as necessary for the safety, reliability and long-term efficiency of the suburban network. Commuters were told to check the latest schedules before setting out and to allow extra time.
Sources
- Central railway announces mega block on main, Harbour Lines for engineering works today; no block on Western railway
- Mumbai local train Mega Block today: Check cancelled trains, diversions and affected routes
