In a trial run, two services are running without halting at stations between Andheri and Borivli, but all passengers may not be on board
Even as people board overcrowded trains while clamouring to rush home in the evening peak hours, the schedule has been slightly modified on the Western Railway. Over the last five days, the WR has been running two Churchgate-Borivli super fast trains — at 6.14 pm and 8.30 pm — which do not halt at stations between Andheri and Borivli.
File photo of a crowded Borivli station
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“We are taking a trial run to see the impact on train operations. Presently, there is not enough space to add more services and this could be a way out,” said a WR official.
The WR had attempted to float this previously in January, as was reported by mid-day, but faced flak from public within two days of implementation. This time, they are conducting the trial over a whole week and hope that the gambit works.
Considering that the WR hasn’t increased services for nearly two years due to saturation and lack of slots, authorities hope that this move could give some breathing space to increase services during peak hours.
Of WR’s 1,305 services, 119 are fast (64 up, 55 down), which stop at the four stations between Andheri and Borivli — Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad and Kandivli. Also, there are already 14 super fast services that do not stop between Borivli and Andheri, but these run in the off-peak hours.
While the move has potential to upset the over five lakh commuters who ply on the four stations, senior railway officials said skipping the four stations would help them increase the speeds of trains to and from Vasai and Virar. Currently, the Churchgate-Borivli trains shift to the slow track at either Santa Cruz or Andheri to accommodate the Virar trains and this costs each train three minutes on an average. Kailash Verma, member of Suburban Rail Accident Committee said the idea would help increase services. “Authorities will be able to manage time better and frequency can be improved. But they should increase the frequency of trains running on slow line as well.”
However, Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad said, “Stations like Malad and Kandivli are densely populated. There should not be any change in the existing format.”
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