A planning error during work at the Kandivli coach shed disrupted Western Railway’s suburban operations for two consecutive days, severely affecting commuters, with 102 local trains canceled on Tuesday and 30 services withdrawn on Wednesday before phased restoration began following an early morning security clearance.
Western Railway (WR) on Tuesday announced cancellation of 102 local trains as part of the Borivali sixth line project. However, construction delays led to further cancellations on Wednesday.
The disruption followed the suspension of entry and exit at the southern end of the Kandivli motor shed after engineers failed to obtain a mandatory ‘line adjustment’ safety certificate for a newly built crossover, part of the sixth line project between Kandivli and Malad.
While WR had also initially announced 102 cancellations for Wednesday, only 30 services were ultimately withdrawn after the crossover received fitness certification around 5am, allowing for partial restoration of services later that day.
Western Railway public relations director Vineet Abhishek said the issue was resolved on Wednesday morning. “The crossover was certified safe around 5am and services were restored afterwards. There may have been some cancellations, but not 102 today. Most of the venues worked,” he said.
However, commuters continued to experience disruption during peak hours.
Rohit Mehta (36), who commutes daily from Andheri to Lower Parel, said, “I travel from Andheri to Lower Parel and work near Peninsula Corporate Park. Yesterday was even worse and today I am also late. My usual Borivali fast at 8:26 am was canceled and I had to travel in the next train, which was very crowded, it was difficult to breathe. Even yesterday afternoon when I tried to return fasting from Bombay In the center, trains were canceled and I had to wait a long time to board one.”