Western Railway is set to give a final push to the year-long work in progress on the 6th line in Mumbai’s Goregaon to Kandivali section.
Starting 27th August 2024, work will continue up to 6th October 2024. This will include five major blocks to be undertaken every weekend to minimize suburban traffic disruptions. 10-hour blocks will be implemented during the night on weekends to complete the work in 35 days. For Ganpati festival, work will be suspended from 11th to 17th September 2024, again to avoid disruptions.
As part of preparatory work, a new line has already been laid on the West side of Malad station. The Slow DN platform at Malad station has been converted into an island platform as a result. During the blocks, all old lines on the slow corridor, fast corridor and the 5th line will be shifted by one westwards. The shift will allow the existing 5th line to be used as the new 6th line at Malad station. This work was necessitated due to a lack of space on the eastern side at Malad station.
Some long-distance trains will be regulated by 15 to 20 minutes, while suburban services will also be affected with an average of around 100 – 140 services being cancelled & around 40 services short-terminated on weekends. On 28th /29th September & 05th / 06th October 2024, non-interlocking work will be undertaken on the 5th line between Goregaon and Kandivali. Due to this, trains running from Bandra Terminus will be regulated by 40-45 minutes.
As per Western Railway, Goregaon – Kandivali section is part of the 5th / 6th line between Bandra Terminus & Borivali. The 5th line is already commissioned between Bandra Terminus and Borivali while the 6th line has been commissioned between Khar Road and Goregaon. After the completion of the Goregaon – Kandivali section, the work of the 6th line will commence on the Kandivali – Borivali section.
When complete, the 6th line between Borivali and Bandra Terminus will:
• Enhance the line capacity on Western Railway’s Mumbai suburban route
• Ease congestion on the busy suburban and mainline tracks
• Improve punctuality
• Long-distance trains from & to Bandra terminus will have dedicated two lines in this section
• Better segregation of long-distance and suburban trains
• Will provide additional paths for running more trains
