Western Railway to operate jumbo block on Sunday, February 4

Pic: PTI File

Western Railway (WR) has announced that it will operate a Jumbo Block on Sunday, February 4, 2024, to facilitate essential maintenance work on tracks, signaling, and overhead equipment.

Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, Sumit Thakur, in a statement said that the block will be implemented on the up fast line between Borivali and Andheri stations and on the down fast line between Goregaon and Borivali stations, for five hours from 10 am to 3 pm.

"During the block period, all up fast line trains will be diverted to operate on the up slow line between Borivali and Andheri stations. Simultaneously, all down fast line trains will be rerouted to the down slow line between Andheri/Goregaon and Borivali stations."

As a consequence of the Jumbo Block, certain up and down suburban services are expected to be canceled for the duration of the maintenance activity. Additionally, specific Borivali and Andheri trains will terminate their journeys at Goregaon on the Harbour line.

The spokesperson advised the commuters to check detailed information available with the concerned Station Masters to stay informed about the alterations and adjustments made to the train schedules during this maintenance period.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra has been granted an unprecedented sum of Rs 15,554 crore for railway initiatives in the interim budget 2024. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasized on Tuesday that this record allocation is nearly 13 times higher than the average annual allocation of Rs 1,171 crore given to Maharashtra between 2009 and 2014.

As per a Central Railway release, the total plan outlay for Central Railway in FY 24'-25 stands at Rs 10,611.82 crore, surpassing its net plan outlay of Rs 10,600 crore for the fiscal year 2023-24.

The interim budget designates Rs 1,941 crore for new railway line projects within the state. Notable projects include Rs 275 crore for Ahmednagar - Beed - Parli Vaijnath (250 km), Rs 330 crore for Baramati - Lonand (54 km), Rs 750 crore for Wardha - Nanded (via Yavatmal-Pusood) (270 km), Rs 225 crore for Solapur-Osmanabad - New line via Tuljapur (84.44 km), Rs 350 crore for Dhule (Borvihir) - Nardana (50.6 km), and Rs 10 crore for Kalyan-Murbad via Ulhasnagar (28 km) project.