Title - 40-50 new services on WR by March end

Mumbai : In a much sought-after relief to its commuters, the Western Railway (WR) is expected to launch 40-50 new services. The new services from Borivli to Virar with an addition of  two ladies special will be launched soon. The long-awaited Churchagate-Dahanu services will also become a reality soon.

An estimated 26 services are to be dedicated for the Churchgate to Dahanu corridor. “We will be working on a retrofitted system, so we might start with a few services in the beginning to get an idea about how the system will be working,” said WR chief public relations officer Sharat Chandrayan. Fifteen of the 26 Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMUs) and Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) will be utilised on Churchgate-Dahanu line.

“These are not a part of the new services announced in the Rail Budget 2013 but the last year’s, they were scheduled for completion in this month,” said Chandrayan.

The Churchgate-Dahanu corridor work has already been completed but the services are yet to be launched for lack of rakes.

With these new services, the rush in the Dahisar-Virar route, on the rise by 55,000 as compared to the 25,000 in the Churchgate-Borivli route, will come down which in turn will lessen the congestion on the line.

“We are expecting to decrease the rush by 40,000 in the Dahanu and Borivli-Virar route,” said Chandrayan.

Another 50 services had been announced in the Railway Budget (2013-14) for Western Railway.

The Dahanu services will add another 60 km to the Western Railway, bringing the total to 124 km.

53 held in drive

Meanwhile, 53 people were arrested by General Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Police Force (RPF) on the Western Railway on March two. The drive launched a day ago is aimed at curbing unruly elements who travel in groups and occupy foot-boards making it tough for regular commuters to enter and exit compartments.