Two Evening Virar Locals to Skip Borivali Halt From September 1
Starting September 1, two evening rush-hour Churchgate-Virar local trains will skip their scheduled halt at Borivali station on a trial basis as part of Western Railway's efforts to decongest peak-hour commuter traffic.
The two services skipping the station are the 6.22pm Churchgate-Virar AC local and the 7.05pm Churchgate-Virar regular local. While both trains will bypass Borivali, they will stop at Dahisar, shifting a portion of passenger movement away from Borivali during the evening rush.
A Western Railway official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the move addresses an operational bottleneck. Heavy boarding and alighting at Borivali during peak hours often results in prolonged stoppages, leading to cascading delays for subsequent train services across the network.
To accommodate passengers who typically use the 6.22pm AC local to reach Borivali, Western Railway has scheduled an alternative AC service that will depart Churchgate at 6.28pm and include a halt at Borivali.
The overall number of daily services will remain unchanged at 1,414 under the revised timetable. Western Railway has introduced six new services while withdrawing six low-demand, off-peak services to reallocate train paths and resources. Weekday AC local services will increase from 145 to 147, as two non-AC services—the 5.28pm Churchgate-Borivali local and the 6.24pm Borivali-Churchgate local—are converted into AC trains.
Other revisions include integrating Dadar-Virar and Virar-Dahanu Road runs into a single service departing Dadar at 5.22pm to reach Dahanu Road at 7.30pm. During morning peak hours, the 8.23am Virar-Dadar service will be extended to Churchgate, arriving at 9.48am.
Western Railway has also added non-peak services along the Borivali-Bhayandar-Virar corridor, including a 7.46am Bhayandar-Virar train, a 10.14pm Borivali-Bhayandar train, a 10.51pm Borivali-Virar train, an 11.51pm Virar-Borivali train, and a 12.28am Borivali-Bhayandar train. Additionally, the 10.24am Churchgate-Borivali AC slow local will now terminate and originate at Goregaon.
