MUMBAI : The Central Railway has taken a 36-hour block for the extension of platforms at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on the Central Railway, even as passenger associations and political parties have opposed the move. The block will be from 12:30 pm on Friday to 12:30 pm on Sunday. This will cause a lot of inconvenience to the passengers for three days and the 63-hour block in Thane will add to the inconvenience.
Interlocking work is in progress to increase the length of platforms 10 and 11 of CSMT. The Central Railway is planning to complete these works in 36 hours. The block has been in place since Friday afternoon. During this period, local services will not be available on Up and Down Harbour line between CSMT and Wadala Road, Up and Down fast, slow line between CSMT and Byculla.
Many local trains will be run till Dadar and Parel instead of Byculla. Hundreds of local trains have been cancelled and partially cancelled. On the other hand, the block for the widening of 5-6 floors in Thane, which started at 12:30 pm on Thursday, will be till 12:30 pm on Sunday. Due to this block, 161 local trains were completed on Friday and 7 local trains were partially closed.
However, the public relations department of the Central Railway refused to give details of the number of local trains that will be cancelled between Kalyan and CSMT and the number of local trains that will be cancelled during the peak hours. During the block period in Thane, it is planned not to cancel any local ferry on Karjat, Kasara Up and Down routes.
Meanwhile, passenger associations say that there is confusion among passengers due to the long-term block and the Public Relations Department of Central Railway needs to give an idea of the block for a few days. Commuters will have to suffer as hundreds of local trains will be cancelled on office working days. Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila and Central Railway's Divisional Railway Manager Rajneesh Kumar Goyal informed the media about the incident.
At the same time, there is an angry response to how the employees of government and private companies will get immediate leave or work from home. The NCP Youth Congress staged a protest on Thursday demanding that the block be cancelled and re-planned. The Central Railway has been accused of taking decisions arbitrarily without considering passengers and passenger associations.
President of the association Adv. Amol Matale. On the other hand, Shiv Sena spokesperson Adv. In this regard, the CM wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi.
Local trains were running late before CSMT and Thane block. Local trains were running late by 15 to 30 minutes. Passengers were also delayed for several hours on Wednesday night. Passengers were stranded at major railway stations like CSMT, Byculla, Kurla and Ghatkopar due to the delay in the operation of local trains.