Central Railway's fifth Thane-Diva rail line is now operational

THANE: In a landmark moment for Central Railway suburban commuters, the fifth rail line between Thane and Diva in the down direction has been made operational starting Sunday following a 14-hour infrastructure block.
The development will now help improve movement of traffic between Mumbai and extended suburbs.
The sixth line and last leg of the corridor expansion project will be activated following a major block next month, leading to complete segregation of suburban and outstation train and freight traffic on the Kalyan-Kurla segment, said Shiv Sena MP Dr Shrikant Shinde.
"The old down direction line between Thane and Diva, which was left redundant after the slow tracks were moved to the new corridor, has now been converted for all fast local trains travelling towards Kalyan. Mail express and freight trains coming from LTT and Trombay will use the fifth corridor passing through Parsik tunnel," informed Shivaji Sutar, chief PRO at the Central Railway. Outstation trains originating from Dadar and Mumbai CSMT could either be operated via the newly activated down fast line passing through Kalwa and Mumbra or be diverted via the Parsik tunnel route, Sutar added.
Sunil Udasi, chief PRO at the MRVC which undertook the block, said nearly 500 workers were pressed into services which involved cutting and connecting of railway lines at Thane and Diva. Udasi added that a 72-hour block is scheduled early February which will be used to activate the last leg of the corridor wherein the redundant Up slow line will be converted into fast line between Diva and Thane.
"The entire suburban and outstation traffic between LTT and Kalyan will be segregated by mid-February which will greatly help in improving movement of suburban traffic between Mumbai and extended suburbs as it will reduce overlapping of freight and outstation train paths with locals," informed Shinde.
Experts said the corridor expansion planned two decades back was badly needed for Mumbai suburban section considering the rapid growth in commuter volume. While the additional lines between Kurla-Kalyan will be operational next month, all eyes are on the next leg of expansion between Kurla and towards CSMT which is required for complete segregation of the lines for speedy movement of trains.