CR's mega blocks on the harbour line

CR's mega blocks on the harbour line
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, MARCH 31: The Central Railway will operate two separate mega blocks on the harbour line between Vadala Road and Kurla from April 1 to carry out engineering, signal and telecommunications and overhead equipment works. The block will be held between 11 am and 4 pm for four days.

Another block during the night will also begin from tomorrow up till April 7 between Kurla and Mankhurd from 1.15 am to 5.15 am. All Up and Dn services will be suspended during both the block periods.

Meanwhile, commuters on the harbour line are complaining they are facing problems because of the continuous blocks. Says Seema Kamdar, a journalist who travels on the harbour line daily, ``It has become a nuisance since we are not informed in advance about the blocks. It's worse for the vegetable and fruit vendors from the APMC market who just wait at Sanpada station waiting forlornly for the next train to arrive since they have no clue about what's going on. Though we are allowed to use our passes on the other trains during the block period, the TCs and other commuters are not aware of this.''

However, CR chief public relations officer Mukul Marwah says the block periods are being held during non-peak hours and therefore the majority of commuters on the harbour line are not affected by them. ``There must be commuters who are facing inconvenience but the blocks have to be held to clean the debris and for repair and maintenance work. They are carried out at different stretches of the harbour line and we make regular announcements after chalking out the plan for each area.'' The BEST too has provided 60 extra buses on these routes for commuters on the harbour line.