MUMBAI:
Western Railway is betting on a “smart timetable” rather than more trains to tackle congestion at Borivali during peak hours.
From September 1, it will retain 1,414 daily services, but reshuffle train paths, halts and service patterns to improve punctuality and passenger connectivity.
Key Changes
- Borivali congestion: Heavy boarding and alighting at Borivali during peak hours can increase the time trains spend at the station, delaying following services and creating a cascading impact. To tackle this choke point, the 18:22 Churchgate–Virar AC and 19:05 Churchgate–Virar services will skip Borivali on a trial basis.
- Why passengers still have an option: The 18:22 AC service is followed just six minutes later by another AC local at 18:28, which will halt at Borivali.
- Dahisar retained: The affected services will continue to halt at Dahisar, helping distribute passenger movement rather than concentrating it entirely at Borivali.
- Same number of trains: Total suburban services remain unchanged at 1,414.
- Six added, six withdrawn: Six new services replace six largely low-demand/off-peak services, allowing existing train paths to be redeployed.
- More AC trains: Weekday AC services rise from 145 to 147 by converting the 17:28 Churchgate–Borivali and 18:24 Borivali–Churchgate services.
- Dadar–Dahanu direct: Integrated services will provide direct connectivity, with the train leaving Dadar at 17:22 and reaching Dahanu Road at 19:30.
- Virar–Churchgate morning link: The 08:23 Virar–Dadar service will be extended to Churchgate, reaching at 09:48, providing a non-AC option after the 07:59 Virar–Churchgate service became AC.
- More late-night connectivity: New/added services include 07:46 Bhayandar–Virar, 22:14 Borivali–Bhayandar, 22:51 Borivali–Virar, 23:51 Virar–Borivali and 00:28 Borivali–Bhayandar.
- AC service reconfigured: The 10:24 Churchgate–Borivali AC slow will now terminate at Goregaon, with its return journey originating there.
