IN a historic shift over a century on, the Central Railway (CR) this weekend (Saturday-Sunday) will be undertaking the track diversion work to construct an elevated harbour line station at Kurla station.
For this, the CR has announced a 14-hour-and-30-minute special traffic and power block on the Up and Down harbour lines between Wadala Road and Mankhurd stations for the weekend.
During this mega block, the CR will take place for the proposed diversion of rail lines between Kurla and Tilak Nagar stations by realigning the harbour line tracks.
“CR is planning to realign and shift westwards to align with the new elevated station work to proceed. The elevated station at Kurla, part of the fifth and sixth lines, will not only cater to regular traffic but will also have local trains originating and terminating there,” a senior official said.
“To get going with the project, we needed to use space used by the existing century-old tracks. To keep the trains running, we have built a new set of tracks over a small stretch, where all existing harbour line traffic will be diverted,” added the official.
The elevated track rises after Chunabhatti station as the train moves towards Kurla and enters the new elevated station. It lands just before the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road crossover on the harbour line near Tilak Nagar station.
“To facilitate this, the new set of two tracks is being built between Kurla and Tilak Nagar stations, and the trains will be diverted here from Monday,” he explained.
The project, which was announced in 2015, has been flagged as one of the biggest mismanaged projects, and it has recently gained traction. This a key milestone in harbour line and project timeline.
The megablock
The mega block will begin at 11.05 pm on Saturday (September 13) and will continue till 1.35 pm on Sunday (September 14).
Last and first trains
Last train before mega block (Up): Panvel–CSMT local departs Panvel at 9.52 pm (Saturday)
Last train before block (Down): CSMT–Panvel local departs CSMT at 10:14 pm (Saturday)
First train after block (Up): Panvel–CSMT local departs Panvel at 1.09 pm (Sunday)
First train after block (Down): CSMT–Panvel local departs CSMT at 1.30 pm (Sunday)
Train cancellations
Down Harbour services (CSMT → Panvel/Belapur/Vashi): Cancelled from 10.20 pm on Saturday till 1.19 pm on Sunday.
Up Harbour services (Panvel/Belapur/Vashi → CSMT): Cancelled from 10.07 pm on Saturday till 12.56 pm on Sunday.
Alternative arrangements
To minimise inconvenience, special local services will be operated between Panvel and Mankhurd during the block.
