Extension of Harbour Line services from Andheri to Goregaon to be inaugurated on Thursday

Mumbai: In what could prove to be a boon for lakhs of Mumbai commuters, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate on Thursday the extension of Harbour Line services from Andheri to Goregaon.

Presently, the Harbour Line, a crucial direct connect for commuters desiring to travel directly to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on Central Railway, is available only up to Andheri on Western Railway.

It is now being extended upto Goregaon on WR with the introduction of 49 new suburban train services, said WR chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar on Wednesday, adding that this would immediately benefit more than 13,000 daily commuters between Borivali-Andheri who can now board the Harbour Line trains bound for CSMT from Goregaon, IANS reported.

The harbour line was named so because it caters to the eastern neighbourhoods of the city's natural harbour. The first section of the line, between Kurla and Reay Road, opened on 12 December 1910 and in 1925, the line was connected to the then Victoria Terminus via an elevated rail corridor between Dockyard Road and Sandhurst Road. The suburban services to Mankhurd began in 1951. The line was later extended from Mankhurd to serve most of Navi Mumbai via the Mankhurd–Belapur–Panvel rail corridor in the 1990s. 

A slew of commuter amenities like elevators at Borivali and Dadar stations on WR, escalators at CSMT, Dockyard Road, Thane and Lonavala stations of the CR are also expected to be thrown open. New foot overbridges will be thrown open at Chunabhatti and an extended FOB will be inaugurated at Virar.

Hoping to lure the vacation crowds, additional services shall be introduced for the toy train running between Neral to the automobile-free hill station of Matheran in Raigad on the CR.

Solar panels shall be dedicated at the Ram Mandir and Santacruz stations and the newly-installed power-saving LED lights at all stations on WR and CR, Bhakar said.

(With IANS inputs)