In view of enhancing commuter convenience and strengthening suburban rail connectivity, Western Railway (WR) will introduce four additional 12-car non-AC suburban train services from February 1.
With the addition of 12 new suburban trains, the total number of suburban services on the Western Railway will rise from 1,406 to 1,410.
According to the officials from Western Railways, the expansion has been made possible following the completion of construction work on the sixth railway line between Kandivali and Borivali.
They also highlighted that the commissioning of the new line has enabled the shifting of all Bandra Terminus-bound suburban services to the 5th and 6th lines between Borivali and Bandra Terminus that will significantly improve operational efficiency and traffic management.
Out of the four new local trains on the Western Line, two will operate in the UP direction and two in the DOWN direction.
UP direction trains:
- Bhayandar to Bandra, departing at 11:39 am
- Bhayandar to Churchgate, departing at 12:14 pm
DOWN direction trains:
- Bandra to Bhayandar, departing at 04:30 am
- Bandra to Bhayandar, departing at 01:21 pm
Western Railway, while issuing the official statement, also said that the induction of these services will also lead to minor changes in the timings of certain existing suburban trains. Passengers have been advised to take note of the revised schedules to avoid inconvenience.
The introduction of these additional services is expected to ease congestion, improve connectivity, and provide smoother travel for thousands of daily commuters across the Western Railway suburban network.
Western Railway to install CCTV at 200 suburban locations
Following the rise in cases of passenger misbehavior and assault on ticket-checking staff, the Western Railway (WR) is installing a complete CCTV network at nearly 200 locations across the suburban network. It will also help the vigilance department to monitor ticket-checking operations.Railway officials, while highlighting the safety measures, said, “The Mumbai Central Division of Western Railway is rolling out CCTV coverage worth Rs 25.81 crore across ticketing offices, counters, and passenger interface areas.”
Official records show that CCTV cameras will be installed at 29 Passenger Reservation System (PRS) centers at stations and 31 Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS)-cum-PRS stations at a cost of Rs 7.12 crore, strengthening security at some of the most crowded ticketing locations on the Mumbai suburban railway network.