Mumbai: Western Railway commuters faced major delays on Monday morning due to ongoing construction work on the sixth line project between Goregaon and Kandivali. Approximately 12% of suburban train services, or about 175 out of 1,394 scheduled trains, were cancelled, leading to widespread disruptions.
In addition to cancellations, trains were running up to 15 minutes behind schedule due to a 30 km/h speed restriction imposed between Ram Mandir Road, Goregaon, and Malad stations.
This caused major inconvenience for office-goers and daily commuters, many of whom took to social media platform X and slammed the Western Railway while expresssing frustration over the timing of the construction work, which coincided with peak hours.
Check some reactions here:
Trains are super late on #Western line. @WesternRly Why to schedule #megablock work during peak hours, causing trouble for office-goers?? #Monday has begun on a terrible note!! 8:01 am local from Bhayandar reached Dadar at 9: 25 am. #mumbai#mumbailocal
— Ria Sharma (@RiaSharma1125) September 30, 2024
@WesternRly why are you doing work related to line extension during peak hours inconveniencing passengers.
Trains are running late between Jogeshwari and Virar.
Stop this.@AshwiniVaishnaw kindly intervene.— Nitin Nayak (@CANitinNayak) September 30, 2024
@PiyushGoyal sir, why are trains in Mumbai so late off late… Never in my life have I experienced Mumbai locals so late… I can understand 1 or 2mins late… But this is unseen… Something is drastically wrong somewhere. Today’s date 30th sept 2024. pic.twitter.com/kMPpv3uGg9
— Xavier Dsouza (@xjsd123) September 30, 2024
Monday morning rush is crazy and all the trains are late by 15-20 mins late. @drmbct@Andherinews@andhericitizen wonder when repair work will end pic.twitter.com/9izJb4FiKT
— Jal Kal (@Tamzi2508) September 30, 2024
Nothing New but All Trains on @WesternRly will run Officially late by 15-20 mins (unofficially pataa nahi ) due to Track Work & subsequent Speed Restrictions between Ram Mandir & Malad… though i wud say Kandivali and Ram Mandir as Work has happened on both ends of Malad Stn.
— MunnaKaSwamiBola.. (@Khurshedswami) September 30, 2024
@WesternRly@drmbct@AshwiniVaishnaw local trains are running. 30 minutes late we working class people face hassle due to late running it affects our entire day and office life when entire Mumbai is dependent on local power look into this pic.twitter.com/weRu0rlcUb
— Raj (@parmarraj12) September 30, 2024
8.01 Bhayandar – Churchgate, still not reached Dadar. Late by approx 40 Minutes. Why trains run late specially during Office time. Due to this delay, people lose half day payment also.
Who is responsible for this delay ?@WesternRly@RailMinIndiapic.twitter.com/P6JbylOIQi— JK Chaturvedi (Official Account)️ (@Jitendr37502078) September 30, 2024
Nearly 175 Local Trains Cancelled
The speed restriction and service changes are part of ongoing construction on the fifth and sixth lines, which is expected to impact train services until October 4. Western Railway has scheduled the cancellation of 150-175 trains daily during this period to facilitate the construction.
A 30 km/h speed restriction was enforced on all four lines—up and down local and up and down through trains—between Ram Mandir Road, Goregaon, and Malad stations starting September 30, further slowing down the already limited services. This has caused delays and overcrowding at stations as passengers scramble to find alternate routes or wait longer for available trains.
To facilitate the construction of the 6th Line between Goregaon and Kandivali Stations, a block of 4 hrs will be taken on the UP & DOWN Fast lines at Goregaon and UP & DOWN Fast & Slow lines at Malad on the intervening night of 30th September/1st October 2024.#WRUpdatespic.twitter.com/oWcOFIgrzW
— Western Railway (@WesternRly) September 29, 2024
The construction project demands a total of 128.38 hours of operational blocks, of which only 43.30 hours remain. A 10-hour block is planned for the upcoming weekend, which is expected to further disrupt train schedules.
Mumbai: Over 150 WR Trains Likely To Be Cancelled Due To Speed Restrictions From Ram Mandir To Malad; Check Details
Additionally, a four-hour block was scheduled during the night of September 30 to October 1, during which train services were limited to the Churchgate-Andheri and Virar-Borivali stretches, leaving the crucial Andheri to Borivali segment without service.
Commuters have been advised to check for updates and plan their journeys accordingly to avoid inconvenience during this period of restricted train operations.