 "930 trains cancelled for 63 hours in Mumbai: Decoding railway mega blocks")
The Central Railway announced cancellation of 930 local trains in Mumbai due to a 63-hour mega block starting at midnight on May 30. This block is for platform extension and widening projects at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai and Thane station.
The block, intended for platform extension at CSMT and platform widening at Thane station, will conclude at 3:30 pm on Sunday. The Central Railway operates over 1,800 local train services daily across its four corridors: Main, Harbour, Trans-Harbour, and Uran, serving more than 300,000 commuters.
During this period, both local and long-distance train services will be disrupted. Railway authorities have advised commuters to avoid travelling by local trains unless absolutely necessary to minimise inconvenience and ensure safety during the maintenance work.
What are railway ‘mega blocks’?
In railway terminology, a ‘mega block’ refers to an extended period during which a particular section of the railway track is completely closed to all train traffic. This closure is typically implemented to carry out extensive maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or construction work on the railway infrastructure. Mega blocks are scheduled to minimise disruption to regular train services and ensure safety during the work.
Mega blocks are usually reserved for significant projects such as track renewal, signal system upgrades, bridge repairs, or the installation of new infrastructure components.
Why are Mumbai local trains cancelled?
In Thane, platforms numbers 5 and 6, which witness overcrowding due to the narrow width and operation of both mail/express and local trains, are being widened by 2-3 metres.
The Central Railway will be cancelling a total of 930 local train services of which 161 will be cancelled on Friday, 534 on Saturday, and 235 on Sunday, as reported by PTI. Moreover, the Railways will short-terminate 444 suburban services, including seven on Friday, 306 on Saturday and 131 on Sunday. A total of 446 local train services, including 307 on Saturday and 139 on Sunday, will originate from various stations.
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Train disruptions: What to expect?
Apart from the local train services, long-distance trains are also expected to be affected during the block period. The railways have appealed to commuters to avoid travelling by local trains, unless necessary.
Sharing more updates on train cancellations, Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of Central Railways said that a total of 72 mail-express trains and 956 suburban trains on the main and Harbour corridors will remain cancelled from Friday to Sunday.
As per the report, several mail-express and suburban trains will also be short-terminated and short-originated from Wadala, Dadar, Thane, Pune, Panvel and Nashik stations.
Other instances of mega blocks
The Central Railway executed a mega block on the Trans-Harbour line in Mumbai in October last year to facilitate essential maintenance work.
In August last year, at least 48 long-distance trains from Mumbai to Gujarat were cancelled around the festival of Raksha Bandhan, owing to a 56-hour mega block at Surat, affecting around 75,000 passengers. Many trains were short-terminated, and around 29 trains were diverted on these two days.
In February 2023, Indian Railways operated another ‘mega’ block to carry out maintenance works. The scheduled block affected the train services for the passengers travelling between Matunga-Mulund Up and Down fast lines, Up and Down slow lines between Borivali and Goregaon stations, Vadala Road-Mankhurd Up and Down harbour lines.
(With inputs from PTI)