Mumbai’s daily commuters are likely to face significant inconvenience over the next three months as local train services on the Harbour Line between Goregaon and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) are set to be completely suspended.
Senior railway officials have confirmed that planning for the shutdown is underway and implementation will begin soon.
The suspension is part of the Western Railway’s ongoing infrastructure upgrade project, under which fifth and sixth railway tracks are being constructed to ease congestion and improve operational efficiency. Over the past few months, similar work between Kandivali and Borivali led to the cancellation of nearly 200–250 local trains daily for almost a month, causing widespread commuter hardship. Normal services resumed only after that phase was completed.
Currently, work on the fifth and sixth tracks between Mumbai Central and Borivali on the Harbour Line has been taken up under the same project. However, due to space constraints, constructing additional tracks has become challenging. To address this, the Western Railway has decided to demolish and reconstruct the railway bridge between Bandra and Khar to create the required space.
As a result, local train services between Goregaon and Bandra on the Harbour Line will be completely halted for approximately 90 consecutive days. During this period, commuters from Goregaon and nearby stations will need to depend on alternative routes or modes of transport to reach Bandra and connect to the Central Railway network. Limited local services will continue to operate between Bandra and CSMT, offering partial relief.
While the fifth and sixth track work between Bandra and Borivali has been completed, construction between Mahim and Santacruz stations has not yet begun. The temporary suspension is expected to facilitate faster execution of this critical phase.
The railway administration had originally planned to cancel Goregaon–CSMT local services for six months. However, in an effort to minimise passenger inconvenience, the shutdown period has been reduced to three months.
The ₹964.84 crore project aims to divert mail and express trains to the newly constructed tracks once completed, thereby freeing up the existing four main lines exclusively for local train services. This is expected to reduce congestion, improve punctuality, and allow the introduction of additional local trains in the future.
According to officials, the target is to complete the fifth and sixth track works across the entire Western Railway network by December 2027.