Mumbai: In the wake of 36-hour mega block to be undertaken at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on June 1 and 2, the Central Railway (CR) has requested the BEST and state transport (MSRTC) authorities to ply additional buses for the convenience of the commuters.
The CR has also asked government offices and private establishments to call minimum staff on duty or give work from home option, if possible. The services between CSMT-Byculla on the main line and CSMT-Vadala on the harbour line will be cancelled completely and to facilitate the commuters to reach their destination without much trouble, the CR has asked for additional bus services.
“We have requested at least 25-30 additional buses between CSMT and Dadar stations for the benefit of the people coming from out stations since mail express trains will also face disruption due to the mega block,” Divisional Railway Manager of Central Railway, Rajnish Kumar Goyal said. Meanwhile, acting on the request made by CR, the BEST undertaking will be plying 486 additional buses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to enable smooth transport facilities for the commuters.
Besides, the CR authorities have also requested the government offices and private establishments to call bare minimum staff on duty during these two days. “We have also asked these offices to alternate duty hours or give their staff an option to work from home, if possible. This will not only help reduce the burden on the local services that would be in service on the block days, but also facilitate easy commuting for the people,” the official said adding, the deployment of RPF staff and TCs will also be maximum to ensure safety and security of the people.
Stating that there will be major disruption during the block period since CR will be operating the trains on Saturday as per the Sunday time table, the official has appealed to the people to venture out of their homes only in case of necessity.
Questioning the timing of the CR authorities to conduct the mega block, President of Upanagariya Railway Pravasi Mahasangh, Nandkumar Deshmukh said the authorities should have held this block three to four months back. “The authorities have been planning this block since many days and we had submitted a letter to the CR on May 8 stating that they should not hold the block now considering the monsoon is approaching.”
“Also, this is the time when many students have to travel for admission purposes as the marriage season is also on. However, CR authorities didn’t pay any heed to our requests and decided to hold the block without thinking about over 33 lakh commuters and causing them trouble. This is nothing but dictatorship on part of the authorities,” Deshmukh added.
As many as 930 suburban local trains and 72 mail express trains would be cancelled as CR would be taking up a 36-hour block for platform expansion and yard renovation work at CSMT. The block will start at 12.30 am on Saturday, it will end on Sunday afternoon.
Central Railway would also be taking up a 63-hour mega block at Thane Station to carry out expansion work at platform number 5 and 6. The block will commence at 12.30 am on Friday and continue till Sunday afternoon.
Additional BEST services during block besides the regular ones: 12.30 am on June 1 to 12.30 pm on June 2
Route number 1 - CSMT to Dadar (E) - 4 buses, 80 services
Route 2 Ltd - Colaba Bus Depot to Byculla Station (W) - 4 buses, 80 services
Route AC 10 - Colaba Depot to Wadala Station (W) - 4 buses, 72 services
Total: 12 buses, 232 services
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May 31 to 3.30 pm on June 2
AC 10- Colaba to Wadala - 5 buses, 30 services
11 Ltd - CSMT to Dharavi Depot - 5 buses, 30 services
14- Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Chowk to Pratiksha Nagar - 5 buses, 20 services
A 45 - Backbay Depot to MMRDA Colony, Mahul - 5 buses, 20 services
1 - Colaba Depot to Khodadad Circle - 5 buses, 30 services
2 Ltd - CSMT to Byculla Station (W) - 3 buses, 24 services
C 42- Rani Laxmi Chowk to Dadlani Park- 5 buses, 20 services
2 Ltd - CSMT to Byculla Station (W)- 5 Double Decker buses, 40 services
A 174 - Antop Hill to Veer Kotwal Garden (Plaza)- 5 buses, 40 services
Total: 43 buses, 254 services
