Converting the unprecedented lockdown into an opportunity, Mumbai divisions of the Central Railway and Western Railway are extensively carrying out safety and maintenance works on the suburban network, which was not possible during the normal busy train schedules. It has been a month since trains stopped plying on the Mumbai suburban rail network, which is one of the busiest and congested in the world. Nearly 3,000 local train services operate on the route
daily and over 80 lakh commuters use it everyday, making it the lifeline of the country's financial capital.

Since disruption of services for even 15 minutes leads to a chaotic situation, rail authorities used to carry out important maintenance and safety works either during the few hours window available late night or by enforcing megablocks during the weekends or holidays, when comparatively less commuters travel in the local trains. As the system is so busy and overburdened, a few hours are never sufficient for carrying out some of the critical maintenance works and those lead to disruptions sometimes, causing hardships to commuters, a railway offiical said.