Commuters face delays amid Western Railway mega block

Mumbai's Western Railway faced major disruptions as a three-day mega block for bridge repairs led to train delays and cancellations from January 24-26.

Mumbai: Hundreds of commuters on the Western Line experienced significant disruptions on Friday night and Saturday morning as the Western Railway commenced a three-day mega block to replace and strengthen the 136-year-old British-era bridge over the Mithi River. The block began at 11 pm on Friday (January 24) and was scheduled to extend until 8:30 am each morning through Sunday, January 26.

Commuters face delays amid Western Railway mega block

While the mega block was primarily scheduled for nighttime to minimise disruptions, passengers travelling between 5:30 am and 6:45 am faced delays and mismatched platform indicators. For instance, at Charni Road station on Friday night, the platform indicator displayed a Borivali slow local, but the last Virar-bound train of the day had arrived instead, causing confusion.

Railway officials anticipated operational delays of 3 to 4 minutes during the block, which they expected would be absorbed in longer journeys to destinations like Churchgate, Virar, or Dahanu. “Our timetable factors in unforeseen scenarios and includes a buffer of 2 to 3 minutes above the required operational time,” said Vineet Abhishek, chief public relations officer, Western Railway. He assured that trains would recover delays after crossing the bridge, where the caution order of 20 km/h is in effect for the initial two days.

Progress of the mega block

By Saturday morning, Western Railway had successfully completed half the work to replace four girders, each weighing 42 tonnes. A team of over 100 workers, assisted by 19 heavy machines, operated in cramped conditions on the Mithi River to execute the project. The remaining work was set to commence as of this report.

During the block, 127 and 150 train services were cancelled on January 24-25 and January 25-26, respectively. Normal suburban operations were expected to resume under the Sunday timetable, with no cancellations anticipated during the following week.

As per Indian Railways’ safety protocols, a caution order of 20 km/h was issued for the replaced tracks. The speed will gradually increase to 40 km/h over two days, 60 km/h for another two days, and fully restore by the following week. Such protocols are standard during major overhauls to ensure safety while trains operate on newly laid structures.

Long-term improvements

The replacement of the Mithi River bridge is part of ongoing efforts to modernise Mumbai’s rail infrastructure. Post-September 1, when Western Railway undertook the laying of a sixth rail line between Goregaon and Kandivali stations (a stretch of 1.4 km), train services experienced delays of up to 20 minutes. These enhancements aim to improve the resilience and efficiency of Mumbai’s lifeline.