The 72 hour mega block announced by Central Railway will cause huge hardships to commuters.
Harbour line commuters are upset with the mega block imposed by the Central Railway to complete the work of extending platforms for starting 12 coach locals. Many of them who had to commute to south Mumbai for work will have to rely on alternate mode of transport on Saturday as services will be disrupted from CST and Wadala Road due to the platform extension work. Youth who were looking forward to spend their weekends too will face hardships while commuting to the city. Earlier too the railways had carried out mega block on Harbour line as several services had been suspended. Ahead of the mega block, four gangmen were killed when they were run over by a local train between suburban Kurla and Vidyavihar stations. The mishap occurred between 6.15 am to 6.30 am when the four labourers, all railway contractual employees, came under the wheels of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-bound suburban train, a Government Railway Police official said.
Rathish Kumar a Vashi resident said, “I had to go to CST for some urgent work on Saturday. But after the announcement of mega block I may have to use the main line as services will be only available upto Wadala Road.”
Sathish Rohankar a Mankhurd resident said, “Seventy-two hours mega block will cause severe hardships for passengers. Why can’t the railways complete the work after 10 pm when lesser number of people travel by trains.”
Rajesh Deshmukh, a businessman from Tilak Nagar said, “Last time when the mega block was announced people had protested against it and also tried to assault railway officials. I am worried whether people will break the law due to the inconvenience faced by them after suspension of train services.”
Binoy Wilson a TYBsc student from Belapur said, “I had to attend my college tomorrow for practicals. I am worried whether I can reach the college on time. The railways fail to implement the policies as per schedule which is causing problems for commuters. Most of the plans of railways remain on paper and it takes four to five years for them to implement the same.”
P Rajeev, a Sanpada resident said, “The railways have hiked passengers fares but have failed to provide better services to people. They should first upgrade passenger amenities so that people can look forward to a better commute.”
“Services has not affected on Friday. It will be affected only between CST and Wadala Road due to the work on Saturday and Sunday, while Wadala-Panvel services will be operational on those days,” a CR spokesperson said.
Central Railway has deployed more than 400 labourers to complete the work within 72 hours. The extension of the platform will enable accommodation of 12-bogey trains which would carry larger number of commuters.
According to Central Railway’s chief public relation officer Narendra Patil, “The mega-block will lead to the cancellation of 145 trains plying on the harbour line route. A total of 590 trains run daily on the line.”
