The Trans-harbour line in Mumbai operates between Thane and Navi Mumbai. There are no fast trains on this line because it is a double line as well. Recently, train operation was suspended on the Trans-harbour line due to a block burst.
Train Operation Was Suspended On Trans-harbour Line
On Thursday morning, the Central Railway (CR) was forced to halt operations of the Mumbai local trains on the Trans-harbour line between the stations of Belapur and Panvel. The official stated that the suspension took place since the planned rail maintenance for the night block did not go as planned. In order to avoid train bunching, trains between Belapur (Navi Mumbai) and Panvel (Raigad) were not running until 11 am.
Several people were forced to take the Harbour Line trains, which were operating roughly 15 minutes late, between the stations of Belapur and Panvel. The officials claimed that the reason for the suspension was a “block burst” brought on by the failure to complete the scheduled work within the assigned block period.
For post-commissioning work at the Panvel EMU stabling sidings, the Central Railway had scheduled a five-day night-time block from 3 am to 5:30 am. The block was designed to make it easier for trains to park after their services.
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Block Burst On The Transit System
Dr. Shivraj Manaspure, chief public relations officer for CR, acknowledged that suburban services on the Trans-harbour line between Belapur and Panvel were discontinued. It was because of the failure to complete scheduled work during a block period, that is “block burst”.
In light of ongoing speed limits at Panvel caused by yard remodelling work, he added that Trans-harbour locals will not run between Belapur and Panvel until 11 am today to avoid bunching at Panvel. Further, Thane-Panvel Trans-harbour locals will not run from Thane to Belapur until 11 am.
It was the second time in less than a week that commuters encountered difficulties as a result of such block bursts. Suburban services were delayed by around four hours earlier in the week due to inadequate completion of scheduled work within the block period.
Many commuters were miffed that there were no direct Trans-harbour trains running between Belapur and Panvel; as a result, some chose the Harbour line trains despite their own delays of 15 to 20 minutes.
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Commuters raised worries about the financial losses associated with missed deadlines.
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons