Mumbai's 'lifeline' to come to a halt for 63 hours; 930 local trains cancelled; Central Railway tells reasons

The Central Railway has scheduled a 63-hour mega block beginning at midnight today, May 30. Due to this, 930 local trains will be cancelled. This mega block would allow for platform expansion and widening projects at two major stations: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai and Thane station.

Once the platforms are widened, amenities like escalators or broader staircases for Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) can be incorporated.

The Railways has urged people to not commute using local trains during those hours unless necessary.

“A 63-hour mega block for the widening of platform nos 5 and 6 (in Thane) will start from Thursday midnight while a 36-hour block for the works related to the extension of platform nos 10 and 11 (at CSMT) will kick in from Friday midnight,” Rajneesh Goyal, divisional railway manager of Central Railway's Mumbai division, told in a press conference on Wednesday.

Starting from Friday to Sunday (May 31 to June 2), due to this mega block, 72 Mail Express trains and 956 suburban train services have been cancelled. Moreover, the routes of many trains have also been changed. The mega block work will start from today mid-night and finish on Sunday at 3.30 PM.

During this mega block, the Railways requested the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to deploy additional buses for passenger convenience.

Mumbai Local trains

During this mega block, the railway has scheduled to cancel 930 local trains including 161 on Friday (May 31), 534 on Saturday (June 1), and 235 on Sunday (June 2).
 
Approximately 1800 local trains run daily across its four corridors: Main, Harbour, Trans-Harbour, and Uran, catering to over 30 lakh commuters.

Various mail-express and suburban trains will be short-terminated and short-originated from Wadala, Dadar, Thane, Pune, Panvel, and Nashik stations.