3 minutes of readingUpdated: January 20, 2026 09:02 am IST
The Central Railway (CR) has proposed to shift 10 long-distance trains, five pairs that currently originate or terminate at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Dadar to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) and Panvel, a move that officials say could significantly ease congestion on the main line and improve punctuality of suburban services.
Railway officials said the proposal, sent to the Railway Board for approval, seeks to free up crucial spaces on the heavily overloaded CSMT-Kasara and CSMT-Karjat corridors.
According to CR’s internal estimates, diverting these long-distance services could create space for the equivalent of about 15 additional suburban train services, with potential capacity for 40,000 to 50,000 more commuters during peak hours.
As per the plan, five pairs of long-distance trains would be diverted towards LTT or Panvel instead of heading south. Bombay.
Railway sources said the aim is to utilize the five-six relatively underutilized lines on the LTT-Kalyan corridor or terminate some services at Panvel, nearly 60 km from CSMT.
Officials said long-distance trains frequently arrive late, squeezing the busy suburban schedule.
“Every day, dozens of local services face delays because arriving express trains exceed their time slots,” said a senior CR official.
“These delays cascade through the system and disrupt peak hour operations.”
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CR estimates that around 40 commuter services are affected daily, both during peak and off-peak hours, due to conflicts with long-distance trains. The problem worsens in winter, when fog in northern India delays trains bound for Mumbai. Services scheduled to arrive between 4am and 5am often arrive closer to 7am or 8am, overlapping with the suburban peak.
The trains identified for terminal changes include Rajyarani Express, Nagercoil Express, Dadar – Tirunelveli Superfast Express, Thiruvananthapuram Central Express and Hapa Duronto, among others.
CR has also proposed increasing the length of trains from 16 to 20 cars to 24 cars to increase long-distance passenger capacity and compensate for the inconvenience caused by terminal changes.
“By just changing the terminals, we can introduce around 15 additional suburban services,” said a senior CR official.
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“Six of them could operate during peak hours, which would increase capacity without an additional fare burden on commuters. We are awaiting formal authorization to implement this.”
Separately, the railways also plans to reintroduce 14 AC local train services on the Harbor line from Republic Day.