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Western Railway will undertake a five-hour jumbo block between Mumbai’s Santacruz and Goregaon stations on Sunday, April 12, to carry out maintenance work of tracks, signalling, and overhead equipment.

According to a press release issued by the Western Railway, the block will be operated on the UP and DOWN Fast lines from 10 am to 3 pm.

During this period, all the Fast line suburban services will be diverted onto the Slow line between Santacruz and Goregaon. Due to the block, some suburban services will remain cancelled, while a few Borivali and Andheri services will run up to Goregaon on the Harbour Line.

The detailed list of affected trains will be available with station masters at all stations on the suburban section.

Western Railway has appealed to passengers to take note of the changes and plan their journeys accordingly.

Mumbai: Western Railway sees lower ridership but higher revenue, thanks to AC local trains

Mumbai’s suburban railway network on Western Railway (WR) is witnessing a curious post-pandemic trend: while daily ridership remains below pre-COVID levels, revenue has not only recovered but surpassed earlier figures — all this because of AC local trains. WR runs as many as 133 AC local trains on its suburban section.

Addressing a press conference, WR Mumbai Divisional Manager Pankaj Singh said the increase in earnings is due to a change in passenger mix, as more people are now opting for AC Electric Multiple Units (EMUs). Another factor is the post-pandemic travel behaviour. With hybrid work models still in place, the number of daily office commuters — once the bulk of suburban traffic — has not fully rebounded. At the same time, occasional and non-regular travellers are more likely to purchase single tickets instead of heavily subsidised monthly passes, improving per-passenger revenue.

Singh also pointed to growth of the Mumbai Metro system and expansion of the road network, which is gradually offloading the dense crush load from the Mumbai suburban network — particularly those willing to pay for more comfortable journeys. Despite the dip in ridership, WR’s suburban system appears to be moving toward a more revenue-efficient as well as a more comfortable system, where higher yields per passenger offset lower volumes.