Commuters Protest as 2 Peak-Hour Virar Locals Skip Borivali Halt
Commuters traveling towards Borivali on Mumbai's Western Railway faced severe confusion and delays on Tuesday evening after two peak-hour Churchgate-Virar locals skipped halting at Borivali station. The changes were implemented as part of a revised timetable aimed at easing congestion and reducing train detentions.
Passengers at Churchgate complained that the announcement regarding the 6.22pm and 7.05pm Virar locals skipping Borivali arrived just before the implementation of the new schedule. Many travelers were forced to switch trains, skip their regular commutes, or alight further down the line at Dahisar to reach Borivali by road.
Rajiv Singhal, a commuter, noted that the late notice forced him to avoid his usual 6.22pm AC local and board a non-AC train instead to ensure he could alight at Borivali. Ajay Singhania, a resident of Sai Baba Nagar, questioned why Borivali was specifically chosen for decongestion instead of alternating halts between Malad and Dahisar.
A senior Western Railway official defended the change, stating that suspending the Borivali halt for the two rush-hour services was intended to redistribute passenger volume rather than reduce connectivity. The official noted that both trains still halt at Dahisar, and an alternative AC local departs Churchgate at 6.28pm with a scheduled stop at Borivali.
The revised schedule kept the total number of Western Railway services unchanged at 1,414 by replacing six low-demand, non-peak hour locals with six new services. Weekday AC local runs rose from 145 to 147, with the 5.28pm Churchgate-Borivali and 6.24pm Borivali-Churchgate non-AC trains converted into AC services without schedule or route modifications. Additionally, a Dadar-Virar train was merged with a Virar-Dahanu Road service to offer direct connectivity, departing Dadar at 5.22pm and reaching Dahanu Road at 7.30pm.
The rollout of the revised timetable on Tuesday was further complicated by system-wide delays of 20 to 25 minutes across several suburban services. Disruptions were caused by trespassing, alarm chain pulling, and delays in closing AC train doors. At Bandra, the Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express was held up for eight minutes due to an alarm chain pull, while another train faced a four-minute delay at Borivali for the same reason. At Mumbai Central, track trespassing resulted in a 12-minute detention.
