Western Railway to Operate Night Block at Vasai on Nov 22-23

Western Railway has announced a three-hour jumbo night block at Vasai Road Yard for track and infrastructure maintenance on the intervening night of November 22-23, 2024. The block will be in effect from 00:15 hrs to 03:15 hrs and will affect all goods lines at Vasai Road Yard. The maintenance work will include repairs to tracks, signaling, and overhead equipment. Western Railway assured that there will be no disruption to suburban services on Sunday, November 24, 2024, during the daytime.

New Trains for Mumbai Local Network

In other news, after a four-year wait, both Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) have received new local trains. WR is set to receive an air-conditioned (AC) local train, which is expected to enhance services on the suburban network, though no specific details on service upgrades have been finalized yet. The AC train was dispatched from the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.

Meanwhile, Central Railway has received a non-AC regular local train, which will replace older trains on the Harbour Line. However, no new services will be introduced, and the new train will primarily serve as a replacement for aging stock.

Western Railway has been pushing for more AC local trains to meet the growing demand, with eight new underslung AC rakes being allocated in phases for the financial years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. Four of these AC trains will be allotted to WR, while one each has been allocated to Eastern Railway (ER) and Southern Railway (SR). Currently, WR operates 96 AC services, with seven AC trains in its fleet.

Despite growing demand, there has been no immediate update on new AC services for Central Railway. The issue of AC trains on CR has sparked political controversy, with leaders like NCP President Sharad Pawar calling for the removal of AC trains and the restoration of regular services for the working-class commuters.