LIFELINE OF MUMBAI CITY : The CENTRAL, WESTERN and HARBOUR Line Local Trains | INDIAN RAILWAYS

Mumbai Meri Jaan.... Yeh Raha Mumbai Ki Jaan :D A Compilation that takes you through a few sections of the famed railway network of India. Suburban Railways in Mumbai consists of three main sections. 1. Western Railway : Churchgate - Dahanu Road 2. Central Railway (Main) : Mumbai CST - Kasara / Khopoli 3. Central Railway (Harbour) : Mumbai CST - Panvel / Andheri The Mumbai Suburban Railway (colloquially called local trains or simply locals) consists of exclusive inner suburban railway lines augmented by commuter rail on main lines serving outlying suburbs to serve the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Spread over 390 kilometres (240 mi), the suburban railway operates 2,342 train services and carries more than 7.5 million commuters daily. By annual ridership (2.64 billion), the Mumbai Suburban Railway is one of the busiest commuter rail systems in the world. Trains run from 04:00 until 01:00, and some trains also run up to 02:30. It is the first largest suburban rail network in terms of route length. The Mumbai Suburban Railway is an offshoot of the first passenger railway to be built by the British East India Company, and is also the oldest railway system in Asia. The first train was run by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (now Central Railway) between Bori Bunder (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) and Thane, a distance of 34 km, on 16 April 1853 at 15:35. The 14-coach train took 1.25 h to complete the 34 km journey, with a halt at Sion to refill the train's water tanks. The next major train was run between Virar and Churchgate by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (now Western Railway), in April 1867. Colaba was also added as a station on this route, but later shut down. On 3 February 1925, the first EMU Service was started from Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) to Coorla Harbour (now Kurla) on the Central line which was run on 1.5 kV DC traction and also started on the Western line from Churchgate to Borivali on 5 January 1928. By 2016, the entire network had been converted to 25 kV 50 Hz AC traction The Central Line in Mumbai consists of 3 major corridors, which bifurcate as they run into suburban satellite towns. Two corridors (one local and other through) follow the Central Railway run from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Kalyan (53 km), from where it bifurcates into two lines – one to Kasara (67 km) in the north-east and the other to Khopoli (61 km) in the south-east. These two corridors constitute the 'Main' Central Line. There is also an 18-km corridor between Kurla and Thane stations for use of outstation and cargo trains. The outstation corridor is being extended further from Thane to Kalyan now as a part of the main line, but is halted because of the costs of tunnelling the parsik hills. The Central Line has two interchange stations with the Western Line at Parel and Dadar and the Harbour line at Sandhurst Road and Kurla. Rolling stock consists of a fleet of AC and Alternate Current new Bombardier and Siemens EMUs. The major car sheds on this line are at Kurla and Kalwa. There are fast and slow locals here for suburban service. Slow locals halt at every station, while fast locals halts vary between Byculla, Dadar, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Mulund, Thane, Diva, Dombivali and Kalyan. All services playing beyond Kalyan run as slow service (halting at every station). The Western Line follows the Western Railway northwards from Churchgate parallel to the west coast. Local services by electric multiple units (EMUs) ply between Churchgate and Dahanu (124 km) on exclusive parallel tracks up to Virar (60 km) while Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMUs) service the section beyond Virar to Dahanu Road (64 km). On 16 April 2013 EMU has extended up to Dahanu Road. MEMUs also operate between Dahanu Road and Panvel via a branch line from Bhiwandi road-Vasai Road. There are EMU carsheds at Mumbai Central, Kandivali and Virar. The largest EMU car shed in Asia is located at Virar. A repair shop for EMUs is situated at Mahalaxmi. Western Railway's EMU fleet consists of EMUs completely powered by alternating current (25 kV) power. Slow trains halt at all stations, while fast ones halt at Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Borivali, Bhayander, Vasai Road, Virar stations and are preferable over longer distances. The Harbour Line is part of the Central Railway, and runs from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Goregaon and Panvel. All Harbour Line services operate as slow services. The line operates from two separate platforms at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and the tracks cross over the main line at Sandhurst Road to head towards stations along Mumbai's Eastern dock area. A branch line from Wadala Road joins the Western Line at Mahim and continues towards Goregaon. The Harbour Line has an interchange station with the main line at Kurla, where it turns east towards Navi Mumbai.