Harbour line (Mumbai Suburban Railway)

The Harbour line is a branch line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway operated by Central Railway. It was named so because it catered to the eastern neighbourhoods along the city's natural harbour. Its termini are Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Goregaon and Panvel on the CSMT-Goregaon, CSMT-Panvel and Panvel-Goregaon routes.

Harbour line
Overview
OwnerIndian Railways
LocaleMumbai, Maharashtra
Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
Thane, Maharashtra
Termini
Stations35
Service
SystemMumbai Suburban Railway
Services
List
  • CSMT–Panvel
    Goregaon–Panvel
    CSMT-Goregaon
Operator(s)Central Railway (CR)
Depot(s)Kurla, Sanpada
Rolling stockJessop, Siemens
Daily ridership1 million[1]
History
Opened12 December 1910 (1910-12-12)
Technical
Line length66 km (41 mi)
CharacterAt grade and elevated
Track gauge5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
ElectrificationYes
Route map

Panvel
Khandeshwar
Mansarovar
Taloja River
Kharghar
CBD Belapur
Seawoods–Darave
planned extension to Borivali
Nerul
Goregaon
Juinagar
Ram Mandir
Jogeshwari
Sanpada
Andheri
Vashi
Vile Parle
Santacruz
Mankhurd
Khar Road
Govandi
Chembur
Bandra
Tilak Nagar
Mahim
Kurla
Chunabhatti
King's Circle
Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar
 
Vadala Road
Sewri
Cotton Green
Reay Road
Dockyard Road
Sandhurst Road
Masjid
Mumbai CSMT

The line is a double line and therefore does not have any fast trains on it. The line runs parallel to the Central Railway line till just before Sandhurst Road station where the line turns eastward and runs elevated up till Sewri. At Wadala Road, the line branches into two. The first line joins with the Western line at Mahim and terminates at Goregaon. The second line follows through Mankhurd into the city of Navi Mumbai, where it again branches out into two lines, one going to Thane (Trans-Harbour Line) and the other to Panvel. The first stop outside Mumbai is the township of Vashi.

The stations in Navi Mumbai are well maintained and beautifully designed by CIDCO. There are IT offices above the stations. The Railbridge connecting Vashi and Mankhurd railway stations running over Thane creek, parallel to the road bridge has brought Navi Mumbai closer to Mumbai, boosting the development of the region.

About 580 services run daily on the Harbour line.[2] Approximately 208 of those are on the Thane-Vashi-Nerul-Panvel route and 172 of those run on the CSMT-Goregaon route.[3]

History

The first section of the Harbour line, between Kurla and Reay Road, opened on 12 December 1910. In 1925, the line was connected to the then Victoria Terminus via an elevated rail corridor between Dockyard Road and Sandhurst Road.[4] Suburban services to Mankhurd began in 1951.[5]

Later, the line was extended from Mankhurd to serve most of Navi Mumbai through the suburban rail network via the Mankhurd–Belapur–Panvel rail corridor was commissioned in phases in the 1990s. The line was extended to Vashi, with the inaugural suburban service being flagged off by President Ramaswamy Venkataraman on 9 May 1992. The Harbour line was further extended to Nerul in February 1993, Belapur in June 1993 and Panvel in June 1998.[5] The corridor was converted to a double line in April 2000.[6]

In 2004, the Trans-Harbour line was opened to the public. The line directly connected Vashi to Thane. This proved to be a boon for commuters of the two stations, who, until then, had to take a circuitous route via Mumbai city and had to change trains at Kurla.

The last direct current (DC) suburban local train ran on the Harbour line on 10 April 2016. The special train left Kurla at 11:30 pm and reached CSMT at 12:15 am. The iconic yellow-and-maroon DC local trains had their first service on 3 February 1925, when the first electric local ran between CSMT and Kurla ran on the Harbour line. The tickets for the last service were priced at 10,000 (US$130), with the proceeds to be donated to drought-affected regions of Maharashtra. The Indian Express reported that not a single ticket was sold. After the last DC service ran, Central Railway officially announced the completion of DC to AC conversion on the Harbour line.[7]

On 4 September 2016, the last 9 car train was put into a sunset as all the trains were converted to 12 coach, which increases the carrying capacity of the line by 33%.[8] Harbor line services were extended up to Goregaon on 29 March 2018.[9][10] Work is underway to extend the line up to Borivali.[11]

Stations

(All Harbour line services are slow, which means they halt at all passing by stations.)

Harbour line (CSMT–Wadala Road)
# Station Name Station Code Connections
1Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj TerminusST/CSMTCentral line
2MasjidMSDCentral line
3Sandhurst RoadSNRDCentral line
4Dockyard RoadDKRDNone
5Reay RoadRRDNone
6Cotton GreenCTGNNone
7SewriSVENone
8Wadala RoadVD/VDLRTo Andheri or Panvel (Harbour line) Mumbai Monorail

At Wadala Road, the Harbour line splits into two corridors, one going to Panvel and the other to Andheri.

The exact split occurs 800 metres north of Wadala Road station, at a location known as Ravli (variously spelled as Raoli, Ravali or Rawli) corresponding to the nearby Ravli slum. There is no railway station at Ravli Junction. However, due to the critical Ravli Junction Yard signal box, there are various public references to this name in news articles and other sources.[12][13]

Towards Panvel

Harbour line (Wadala Road–Panvel)
# Station Name Station Code Connections
8Wadala RoadVD/VDLRTo Andheri (Harbour line)
and Mumbai Monorail
9Guru Tegh Bahadur NagarGTBNNone
10ChunabhattiCHFNone
11KurlaCH/CLACentral line
12Tilak NagarTKNGIndian Railways

(A Walkway has been constructed which connects Tilak Nagar to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus)

13ChemburCM/CMBRMumbai Monorail
14GovandiGVNone
15MankhurdM/MNKDNone
16VashiVA/VSHTrans-Harbour line
17SanpadaSNCRTrans-Harbour line
18JuinagarJNJTrans-Harbour line
19NerulNU/NEUTrans-Harbour line
and Nerul–Uran line
20Seawoods-DaraveSWDVTrans-Harbour line
and Nerul–Uran line
21CBD BelapurBR/BEPRNavi Mumbai Metro,
Trans-Harbour line
and Nerul–Uran line
22KhargharKHAGNavi Mumbai Metro
and Trans-Harbour line
23MansarovarMANRTrans-Harbour line
24KhandeshwarKNDSNavi Mumbai Metro
and Trans-Harbour line
25PanvelPL/PNVLTrans-Harbour line
and Central line

Towards Andheri–Goregaon

Harbour line (Wadala Road–Andheri–Goregaon)
# Station Name Station Code Connections
8Wadala RoadVD/VDLRTo Panvel (Harbour line)
and Mumbai Monorail
9King's CircleKCENone
10Mahim JunctionMMWestern line
11BandraB/BAWestern line
12Khar RoadKHARWestern line
13SantacruzSTCWestern line
14Vile ParleVLPWestern line
15AndheriAD/ADHWestern line
and Metro Line 1
16JogeshwariJOSWestern line
17Ram MandirRMARWestern line
18GoregaonGO/GMNWestern line

Future development

Kurla–Shivajinagar service

CR has sought permission from the Railway Board to run EMUs on the Harbour line between Kurla and Shivajinagar in Pune. The service would provide direct connectivity between Navi Mumbai and Pune, which is currently not available.[14] EMUs will be modified to include six motor cars.

CR plans to use 16 coach mail/express trains to cover the 170 km distance in approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes. Stations on the line will be Kurla, Vashi, Belapur, Panvel, Karjat, Lonavla and Shivajinagar.[15]

See also

References

  1. Mumbai: CST-Panvel line may run fully AC trains–India–IBNLive
  2. "CR wants Sewri, Chunnabhatti crossings shut during peak hours, News–City". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  3. "Harbour line woes to continue for now". The Times of India. 19 December 2011.
  4. "Harbour line to take elevated route at Kurla". The Times of India. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  5. "Mumbai: Suburban services extension up to Vashi on harbour line completes 30 years". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  6. CIDCO. "Railway Projects". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. "End of an era: Mumbai bids goodbye to last DC local". 11 April 2016.
  8. "Mumbai's last 9-car local will ride into sunset tomorrow - Times of India".
  9. "From today, Mumbaiites can take harbour trains from Goregaon". Hindustan Times. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  10. "Mumbai: All Harbour trains to Andheri to be extended till Goregaon". The Times of India. 17 November 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  11. "Harbour line extension to Borivali back on track". Hindustan Times. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  12. "Mumbai: Trains affected by megablock on Harbour, Trans Harbour lines". Daily News and Analysis. 11 March 2016.
  13. "Mumbai: Harbour Line services affected due to technical snag". Mid-Day Mumbai. June 2016.
  14. "Pune may soon have its first direct train to Navi Mumbai - Express In…". Archived from the original on 23 January 2013.
  15. "Central Railway plans to connect Navi Mumbai and Pune". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013.
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