6-hour block on Central Railway this weekend

This weekend, commuters on both mainline and harbour will be inconvenienced as Central Railway (CR) will be taking a six-hour block on both lines in order to lay girders for the Kasaiwada bridge located in Kurla.

Between 12.15 am and 6 am on Sunday, no trains will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). Officials said they are taking the block now as those belonging to the Muslim community use this bridge to visit their place of worship which becomes all the more important during Ramzan which falls onJune 6.

Owing to the block, the last trains from CST i.e. the 12.30 am from CST to Kasara and the 12.45 am from CST to Panvel will not be available to commuters. “We have to take this block now since we have to get it ready at least a few days after Ramzan starts. In December last year, when we demolished the bridge, we promised members of the community that we would be getting it ready until then,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

Asked why the block could not be taken earlier, CR said there were other blocks like the one on harbour to make the line suitable for 12-coach rakes.

Due to the block, some mail express trains have been rescheduled. These include the 11093 CST-Varanasi Mahanagari Express, 10103 CST-Madgaon Mandvi Express and 11301 CST-Bengaluru Udyan Express, which have been delayed by two to four hours.