Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) will cancel around 80 suburban services daily and regulate a few long-distance trains, beginning Sunday, as it undertakes connection work for commissioning the extended sixth line up to Borivli during a 30-day block from Saturday till Jan 18.WR’s chief public relations officer Vineet Abhishek said the block will lead to cancellations of suburban services, while some long-distance trains will be short-terminated or short-originated, rescheduled, regulated or made to skip their scheduled halt at Borivli. “We will try to keep cancellations to the bare minimum on Dec 31, when passenger demand is especially high due to New Year celebrations,” he said. The decision on which local train services are to be cancelled will be taken daily between 11.30pm and 4.30am. The details of affected trains will be shared through WR’s official website and social media handles.The cancellations are due to suspension of the fifth line during the block period. This line will remain closed for passenger operations, with speed restrictions imposed on the remaining lines. All mail, express and suburban trains that normally use the fifth line will be diverted to the fast line between Andheri/Goregaon and Borivli.The block is linked to the long-pending extension of the sixth line between Bandra terminus and Borivli. WR is currently completing work on the final 3.7 km stretch between Kandivli and Borivli, which officials said is likely to be ready before the end of the current financial year.The connection work involves track slewing and insertion as well as removal of multiple crossovers at Kandivli and Borivli. Major engineering, signalling and overhead equipment (OHE) works will be carried out during the block.A senior official said surface-level civil works are nearing completion and permissions have been granted for laying OHE and signalling systems—a process expected to take around 30 days. “Once commissioned, the sixth line will significantly improve the punctuality of mail and express trains by easing congestion on the network.”
