Western Railway’s (WR) new suburban timetable will kick in on Thursday and commuters can expect slight changes in their schedules. The timetable will have 10 extra services, taking the tally of daily services to 1,365. WR has also extended 122 services, especially to Virar and Dahanu, which includes two ladies specials.
It has been able to achieve the increase in capacity by changing the mode of 56 services, wherein existing services will halt at fewer stations. “We realised that there was less demand in the off-peak direction even during peak hours. For instance, during morning peak hours, the demand at stations like Marine Lines is not as much. In such cases, we have skipped halts for the fast local to ensure greater speed and improve our turnaround time,” a senior railway officer said. In the process, WR has also managed to reduce the run time of 26 services saving 233 minutes, which provided the space for more services. The daily distance covered by each rake will also increase from 539 km to 550 km.
For instance, 25 minutes were saved by turning a Bhayander-bound slow local into a fast local and extending it to Virar. Till Wednesday, the local used to depart from Churchgate 10.54 a.m. and reach Bhayander at 12.14 p.m. On Thursday, the local will reach Virar at 12.13 p.m., halting at Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Borivali, Bhayander and Vasai. “We have ensured more services to and from Virar through these measures. On November 1, there will be 220 such services. The figure stood at 191 in 2016,” Sanjay Mishra, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), WR, said.
WR has also increased the peak-hour period by 30 minutes. The morning peak will start at 8 a.m. and end at 11.30 a.m., while the evening peak hour will begin at 5 a.m. and end at 8.30 a.m.
“We have seen that trains are running with High Density Crush Load even at this time. The change in peak hour is to reflect the ground reality,” a senior railway official said.