Mumbai: Even as the Central Railway authorities commenced what is supposed to be the biggest mega block of local and mail/express trains, the commuters had to slug it out and face the brunt of the situation. They faced extensive delays, overcrowding, and commuter frustration. Office-goers and students experienced prolonged travel times, with many trains running late.
The Central Railway has already commenced the 63-hour mega block at 12.30 am on Friday to carry out expansion work at platform number 5 and 6 in Thane. The block inadvertently affected daily schedules and caused substantial inconvenience. The trains coming to Thane from Kasara, Khopoli, Karjat, Kalyan and other places were particularly impacted.
Central Railway will also 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 and will end on Sunday afternoon.
A Kalyan resident, who works in CBD Belapur said, “I was aware of the mega block and left home early. Despite that, I was able to reach my office one hour late. The trains were running very slow creating anxiety among commuters. I faced problems till I reached Thane, but once I changed to the trans harbour link, it was travel as usual. Also, the impact was not much till 9 am, but it increased after that.”
“Though the BEST undertaking has started plying additional buses and most of the private sector establishments have decided to give its staff an option to work from home, those who didn’t get this liberty, had to venture out of their homes and face difficulties. There was no major problem as the trains were running slow, but the people were peeved at the way the authorities communicated. Thanks to social media, people were ready to face the troubles,” a resident of Ambernath who works in a government office said.
To ensure that the commuters don’t face much hardship, the Central Railway had requested the BEST and state transport (MSRTC) authorities to ply additional buses. Accordingly, the BEST undertaking decided to ply 486 additional buses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The CR also asked the government offices and private establishments to call minimum staff on duty or give work from home option, if possible.
“People are a bit angry with the way things are going since they were not informed about exactly what advantage this mega block will have. It is not that the authorities decided to hold the block in a day or two and must have been planning the same for at least three months. Had they informed the people or commuters’ organisations a fortnight back, it would have been easy to plan things in advance,” President of Rail Yatri Parishad, Subhash Gupta said.
“Besides informing the media, the authorities should have called a meeting of commuters’ organisations and apprise them about the block. This would have been a better way to convey the message effectively,” Gupta said and added that the intention of Central Railway to hold the block is good, but the approach was not.
As many as 930 suburban local trains and 72 mail express trains are stated to be cancelled with services between CSMT-Byculla on the main line and CSMT-Vadala on the harbour line would remain suspended completely.
