Stations 37 | Daily ridership 3.48 million | |
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Locale Mumbai, Maharashtra, IndiaThane district, Maharashtra, IndiaPalghar district, Maharashtra, India Services ListChurchgate – Dahanu RoadChurchgate – VirarChurchgate – Vasai RoadChurchgate – BhayanderChurchgate – BorivaliChurchgate – GoregaonChurchgate – AndheriChurchgate – BandraChurchgate – Mumbai CentralBorivali – Dahanu RoadBorivali – Vasai RoadBorivali–VirarBorivali–BandraBorival–DadarBorivali–Mumbai CentralBorivali–MahalaxmiDadar–Dahanu RoadDadar–VirarDadar–BhayanderAndheri–Dahanu RoadAndheri–VirarAndheri–BhayanderAndheri–Vasai RoadVirar–Dahanu RoadVirar–DadarVirar–BandraVirar–AndheriVirar–BorivaliVirar–Lower Parel | ||
The Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway is a public transit system serving Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Maharashtra. It consists of 36 stations from Dahanu Road to Churchgate railway station. It is operated by Western Railways (WR). The entire line is at grade.
Contents
- History
- Timeline
- Stations
- Electrification
- Services
- Historical
- Escalators
- FOBs and Subways
- Train Management System
- Fatalities
- References
Trains are differentiated as slow and fast locals. Slow trains stop at all stations, while fast ones stop at important stations only and are preferable over longer distances. Trains usually start from and terminate at important stations. The section from Churchgate to Virar is a Quadruple track. An EMU car shed has been built between Nala Sopara and Virar which is the largest car shed in Asia. A repair shop for EMUs is situated at Mahalaxmi. There are also EMU car sheds at Mumbai Central and Kandivali.
History
Suburban service on what is now the Western line was offered by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, which began running steam trains in 1867. Rakes operating on DC electricity were introduced on 5 January 1928. Sir Leslie Wilson, the then-Governor of Bombay inaugurated the line running between Colaba and Borivili at Mahalaxmi, in the presence of 700 invitees.
The proposal to ply Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains between Dahanu and Churchgate was approved in the 2012–13 Railway Budget. In March 2013, 18 MEMU services ran between Virar and Dahanu daily.
On 16 April 2013, the 160th anniversary of the Indian Railways, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal inaugurated the first EMU service between Churchgate and Dahanu Road. The first Churchgate-Dahanu local was flagged off around 10:47am and arrived at Churchgate at 1:44pm. Prior to the launch of this service, EMU services on WR only ran on the 60 km stretch between Churchgate and Virar.
Timeline
Stations
(Names in bold indicate that the station is a fast train stop.)
‡ indicates the stations which Fast Up trains (to Churchgate) skip from around 5PM to 8PM.
†A footbridge links Elphinstone Road to Parel on the Central line.
Churchgate station is the Terminus station at the South End of Mumbai City. In Mumbai, Western Railway (WR) Suburban trains use this station as terminus. Long distance trains and goods trains do not use this station.
Above list of stations is mentioned from South end going towards North suburban areas falling on WR corridor.
Electrification
Western Railway's EMU fleet consists of EMUs running on AC 25 kV power. WR uses seven 9-car rakes.
The Western line began running electric trains with DC power on 5 January 1928.
On 5 February 2012, WR finished converting the entire Western line from the earlier used 1,500V DC to 25 kV AC power. The entire power conversion project cost about ₹500 crore. Since 25,000V AC power is 17 times stronger than DC, people riding on top of the trains will be killed if they come into contact with the overhead wires.
The project was also expected to improve the punctuality of train services, make them energy-efficient and allow a greater number of 12-coach and 15-coach trains to ply. Post-conversion, local trains will be able to achieve speeds of 100 km/h with ease. The next step would be to convert the remaining 9-coach trains to 12-coach ones, thus augmenting the carrying capacity by 33%. The system will need less maintenance.
While using DC traction, 22 substations provided power to suburban trains on the Western line. Since switching over to AC traction, substations at Mahalaxmi, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Borivli and Vasai supply 25,000V power to local trains.
Services
As of 27 March 2012, the Western line has approximately 1,290 local services running which carry about 3.55 million commuters every day. These 1290 local services are operated using 80 trains. Western Railways' EMUs are in 12 car and 15 car formations.
The first 9-car service on the Western line ran on 2 March 1961. The 9-car service has since been phased out and the last service ran on the Western line on 20 November 2012. However, 10 services (six on CR and four on WR) were still operated as 9-car even after that date as the track is shared by the Western line and the Harbour line. Harbour line platforms are too short to accommodate longer trains.
In 2010, 15 car services between Churchgate and Virar were introduced. They halt at all the stations between Borivli and Virar, and do not halt at any stations between Churchgate and Dadar. 15-coach trains are used in non-peak hours. They cannot be used in peak hours because the station platforms are too narrow to handle the increased foot traffic.
Historical
The following table shows the number of services and daily ridership on the Western line throughout its history.
Escalators
WR has escalators at 26 stations including some main stations like Borivali,Andheri,Dadar for the common people. This helps the physically challenged and senior citizens.
FOBs and Subways
As of 29 April 2013, there are 102 foot over bridges (FOB) and 8 subways on the Western line.
Train Management System
The Train Management System (TMS) is used by both staff and passengers to monitor the location of trains. TMS enables commuters to know what trains will be arriving in the next 10 minutes. The system was implemented on the Western line in 2004.
Fatalities
In 2011, 1,313 commuters died in accidents on the Western line, mainly via trespassing on ten particular stretches of track. Since mid-February 2012, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel patrol the areas from 7am-11am and 5pm-10pm, the peak times for such incidents. Initially, they used posters in an education campaign and only cautioned offenders. They later escalated to arresting people.