Mumbai: Central Railway starts 63-hour mega block, commuters face delay, rush on local trains

Mumbai: Users of the Central Railway’s suburban services faced delays and overcrowding on Friday morning after a 63-hour-long block commenced to widen platforms at Thane.

The mega block, which started on Thursday midnight, has affected the suburban services on CR’s main corridor, causing inconvenience to lakhs of office-goers.

Commuters complained of delays up to 30 minutes, packed local trains and overcrowding at platforms of major stations due to the block scheduled for widening platform 5 and 6 at Thane station.

CR has already announced that at least six long-distance trains and 161 local services will remain cancelled on Friday due to the block.

Anticipating delays and overcrowding, railway authorities have urged commuters to avoid suburban train journeys if not absolutely necessary.

They have also appealed to public and private establishments to allow their employees to work from home or provide them alternative means of transport during the block period, besides asking state and municipal transport bodies to run extra buses.

During the block between Friday and Sunday, 72 long-distance and 930 suburban services will remain cancelled, a senior official had said on Thursday.

A CR spokesperson said they have completed some works well before schedule and hence things will improve soon.

“The track slewing work (shifting track sideways from its normal position) at Thane station has been completed. Tamping (packing ballast under track) and blasting of the track are currently in progress. The up slow line was declared fit at 08.04 am, well ahead of its scheduled time of 12.30 pm,” he said.

The official added that local trains, considered Mumbai’s lifeline, are currently running 15 to 20 minutes behind schedule, but the situation was expected to improve by 10.30 am.