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 | |
| Owner | Indian Railways |
| Locale | Mumbai, Maharashtra Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra Thane, Maharashtra |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 35 |
| Service | |
| System | Mumbai Suburban Railway |
| Services | List
|
| Operator(s) | Central Railway (CR) |
| Depot(s) | Kurla, Sanpada |
| Rolling stock | Siemens |
| Daily ridership | 1 million[1] |
| History | |
| Opened | 12 December 1910 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 73.84 km (45.88 mi) |
| Character | At grade and elevated |
| Track gauge | 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge |
| Electrification | Yes |
The line is a double line and 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 goes towards King's Circle and then joins with the Western line at Mahim where it runs parallel with the Western Line on right side. It then switches sides via an elevated bridge between Bandra and Khar Road where it runs on the left side and finally 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 rail bridge 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] Total of 41 Rakes ply on this line.
History
editThe 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$120), 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
edit(All Harbour line services are slow, which means they halt at all passing by stations.)
| Harbour Main Line (CSMT–Wadala Road) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Station Name | Station Code | Connections |
| 1 | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus | ST/CSMT | Central line |
| 2 | Masjid | MSD | Central line |
| 3 | Sandhurst Road | SNRD | Central line |
| 4 | Dockyard Road | DKRD | None |
| 5 | Reay Road | RRD | None |
| 6 | Cotton Green | CTGN | None |
| 7 | Sewri | SVE | None |
| 8 | Wadala Road | VD/VDLR | To Goregaon or Panvel (Harbour line) Mumbai Monorail |
At Wadala Road, the Harbour line splits into two corridors, one going to Panvel and the other to Goregaon.
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
edit| Harbour Navi Mumbai Branch Line (Wadala Road–Panvel) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Station Name | Station Code | Connections |
| 8 | Wadala Road | VD/VDLR | To Goregaon (Harbour line) and Mumbai Monorail |
| 9 | Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar | GTBN | None |
| 10 | Chunabhatti | CHF | None |
| 11 | Kurla | CH/CLA | Central line |
| 12 | Tilak Nagar | TKNG | Indian Railways
(A Walkway has been constructed which connects to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) |
| 13 | Chembur | CM/CMBR | Mumbai Monorail |
| 14 | Govandi | GV | None |
| 15 | Mankhurd | M/MNKD | None |
| 16 | Vashi | VA/VSH | Trans-Harbour line |
| 17 | Sanpada | SNCR | Trans-Harbour line |
| 18 | Juinagar | JNJ | Trans-Harbour line |
| 19 | Nerul | NU/NEU | Trans-Harbour line and Port Line |
| 20 | Seawoods-Darave | SWDV | Trans-Harbour line and Port Line |
| 21 | CBD Belapur | BR/BEPR | Navi Mumbai Metro, Trans-Harbour line and Port Line |
| 22 | Kharghar | KHAG | Navi Mumbai Metro and Trans-Harbour line |
| 23 | Mansarovar | MANR | Trans-Harbour line |
| 24 | Khandeshwar | KNDS | Navi Mumbai Metro and Trans-Harbour line |
| 25 | Panvel | PL/PNVL | Trans-Harbour line and Vasai Road–Roha line |
Towards Goregaon
edit| Harbour Salsette Branch Line (Wadala Road–Andheri–Goregaon) (Extension to Borivali Underway) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Station Name | Station Code | Connections |
| 8 | Wadala Road | VD/VDLR | To Panvel (Harbour line) and Mumbai Monorail |
| 9 | King's Circle | KCE | None |
| 10 | Mahim Junction | MM | Western line |
| 11 | Bandra | B/BA | Western line |
| 12 | Khar Road | KHAR | Western line |
| 13 | Santacruz | STC | Western line |
| 14 | Vile Parle | VLP | Western line |
| 15 | Andheri | AD/ADH | Western line and Metro Line 1 |
| 16 | Jogeshwari | JOS | Western line |
| 17 | Ram Mandir | RMAR | Western line |
| 18 | Goregaon | GO/GMN | Western line |
| 19 | Malad (Under Construction) | MLD | Western line |
| 20 | Kandivali (Under Construction) | KILE | Western line |
| 21 | Borivali (Under Construction) | BVI | Western line |
Future development
editKurla–Shivajinagar service
editCR 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]
Work on extending Harbour Line branch from Goregaon to Borivali is underway since March 2024,
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Mumbai: CST-Panvel line may run fully AC trains–India–IBNLive
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Harbour line woes to continue for now". The Times of India. 19 December 2011.
- ^ "Harbour line to take elevated route at Kurla". The Times of India. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Mumbai: Suburban services extension up to Vashi on harbour line completes 30 years". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ CIDCO. "Railway Projects". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
- ^ "End of an era: Mumbai bids goodbye to last DC local". 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Mumbai's last 9-car local will ride into sunset tomorrow - Times of India".
- ^ "From today, Mumbaiites can take harbour trains from Goregaon". Hindustan Times. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Harbour line extension to Borivali back on track". Hindustan Times. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Mumbai: Trains affected by megablock on Harbour, Trans Harbour lines". Daily News and Analysis. 11 March 2016.
- ^ "Mumbai: Harbour Line services affected due to technical snag". Mid-Day Mumbai. June 2016.
- ^ "Pune may soon have its first direct train to Navi Mumbai - Express In…". Archived from the original on 23 January 2013.
- ^ "Central Railway plans to connect Navi Mumbai and Pune". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013.