26 June,2026 02:04 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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Central Railway has completed extensive monsoon preparedness measures across its Mumbai Division, including drainage upgrades, flood mitigation works and safety improvements in ghat sections, to minimise disruptions to train services during the rainy season.
According to Central Railway, 117 locations across the Mumbai Division have been identified as vulnerable to waterlogging, where water levels can rise above the rail tracks during periods of intense rainfall.
To address the issue, the railway has deployed 210 heavy-duty dewatering pumps with capacities ranging from 12.5 HP to 100 HP. It has also undertaken extensive cleaning of drains, culverts and bridge waterways to ensure the smooth flow of stormwater.
Central Railway said it identified 18 major flooding-prone locations for targeted engineering interventions through both temporary and permanent solutions.
Work has already been completed at six critical locations, including Sion-Kurla, Chunabhatti-Kurla, Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg Road and Kurla-Tilaknagar. Additional long-term projects involving bridge augmentation, track raising, microtunnelling and drainage improvements are being carried out in phases and are expected to continue until 2028.
One of the key infrastructure projects completed this year is the Thane Microtunnelling Project, executed at an estimated cost of Rs 5.50 crore.
According to Central Railway, the project involved laying two 110-metre reinforced cement concrete pipelines beneath the railway tracks using microtunnelling technology. The project is expected to resolve the long-standing flooding issue at Thane station, where water levels had previously risen above rail level during heavy rain, leading to operational disruptions.
Central Railway said bridge rehabilitation and waterway augmentation works are also being undertaken to strengthen the drainage network.
During 2024-25 and 2025-26, the railway completed 42 bridge augmentation projects, with additional works planned during the current year.
Special focus has also been placed on the ghat sections between Kalyan-Lonavala-Karjat and Kasara-Igatpuri, which are susceptible to landslides, boulder falls, washouts and slope failures during the monsoon.
According to Central Railway, several modern protective systems have been installed, including rockfall barriers, boulder netting, boulder fall fencing, tunnel portals, gabion structures, strengthened retaining walls and boulder-catching sumps.
The railway said these measures have been implemented with assistance from Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. and technical inputs from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Central Railway said the protection works carried out over the past three years have significantly reduced incidents of boulder falls and weather-related disruptions in the ghat sections. It added that the MID Line Ghat section remained operational throughout the 2024 and 2025 monsoon seasons without any complete interruption to train traffic, allowing passenger and freight services to continue.
Apart from infrastructure upgrades, Central Railway said it has completed large-scale pre-monsoon maintenance works, including cleaning culverts, desilting side and catch-water drains, carrying out track maintenance and lifting at vulnerable locations, inspecting tunnels, leak-proofing station platforms and railway buildings, and deploying monsoon patrol personnel in sensitive areas.
The railway is also coordinating with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Thane Municipal Corporation, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation through joint inspections and pre-monsoon meetings to improve flood mitigation and emergency response.
