New Bandra-Madgaon train launched on WR, with 25-minute halt at Vasai

Mumbai: Residents of the western suburbs can now take a train to Goa from a railway station closer to home. After more than a decade, Western Railway (WR) has started a new train from Mumbai to Goa via the Konkan region.
On Thursday, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal flagged off the 20-coach Bandra Terminus-Madgaon Express from Borivali. While the inaugural train started from Borivali, when regular services commence on September 4, it will depart from Bandra Terminus every Wednesday and Friday. Services from Madgaon to Bandra Terminus will be scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday.
Trains from Mumbai to Goa have traditionally been on Central Railway (CR). To accommodate WR, the route comes with a peculiar problem: the train will head north from Borivali towards Vasai, where it will have to reverse its direction towards Panvel. For this, its locomotive or engine car must be moved from one end of the train to the other. This process will require a halt of 25 minutes at Vasai.
The train will take between 14 and 16 hours to reach Goa, including the 25-minute halt. In contrast, CR trains from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, and Vasai to Madgaon take 10-12 hours. There are very few trains, especially holiday specials, starting from Mumbai Central or Bandra Terminus for the Konkan region or southern India, since they need to undergo an engine reversal at Vasai, leading to time loss.
The only alternative is to expedite the construction of a chord line at Naigaon-Juchandra that connects WR and CR, which was first proposed in 2018. This chord line will take the trains on the Vasai-Diva-Panvel corridor onto Konkan railway.
“The rail line received a go-ahead from the Railway Board, but we need to acquire land for this project,” said a senior WR official. “We have approached the state government authorities for the same.”
The 5.73-km stretch between the WR’s Naigaon station and Juchandra station on the Vasai-Diva line will be a double-line rail flyover connector. WR has been allocated ₹50 lakh in this year’s Union Budget for this crucial rail link, also called Vasai Bypass. The ₹176 crore rail line will immensely help commuters and outstation passenger traffic. Sources said a survey was sanctioned in 2018 by the Railways, and construction work will take around two years.
“We have been demanding this chord line for 10-12 years, and the railways need to expedite it,” said Shantaram Naik, president, Akhand Konkan Railway Pravasi Samiti. “We are happy that the first train from Western Railway in Mumbai for Konkan has been made available.”