Western Railway Revises Timetable, Two Evening Locals to Skip Borivali

Western Railway will implement a revised suburban timetable from September 1, introducing operational adjustments aimed at managing peak-hour crowding at Borivali and enhancing connectivity across the network. Under the updated schedule, two evening Churchgate-Virar local trains will skip Borivali station on an experimental basis, while total weekday AC local services will rise from 145 to 147.

The measure to bypass Borivali affects the 6.22 pm AC local and the 7.05 pm local departing from Churchgate. Both services will maintain their scheduled halt at Dahisar. According to railway officials, severe peak-hour crowding at Borivali regularly causes prolonged halts and operational delays that affect subsequent trains on the corridor. Commuters bound for Borivali will have alternative trains available, including a 6.28 pm AC local from Churchgate.

While the total number of suburban services on the Western Railway network will remain constant at 1,414, six new services have been created by cancelling six low-demand trains and reallocating their operational paths to routes experiencing higher commuter traffic.

Air-conditioned services will see an expansion under the new timetable. Two non-AC services—the 5.28 pm Churchgate-Borivali and the 6.24 pm Borivali-Churchgate locals—have been converted into AC services without any changes to their existing timings or routes. Conversely, the 10.24 am Churchgate-Borivali AC slow local will be short-terminated at Goregaon.

The revision also includes adjustments for commuters travelling beyond Virar. Western Railway has merged the existing Dadar-Virar and Virar-Dahanu Road services into a single direct Dadar-Dahanu Road local, scheduled to depart at 5.22 pm and reach Dahanu Road at 7.30 pm. In the morning peak period, the 8.23 am Virar-Dadar local will now run through to Churchgate, arriving at 9.48 am to provide non-AC commuters with a direct connection.

Additionally, late-night services are being introduced on the Borivali, Bhayandar, and Virar sections. Western Railway stated that the schedule changes are designed to respond directly to commuter demand, manage platform congestion, and improve operational efficiency across the suburban network.