Punctuality on WR’s Churchgate-Borivali stretch is expected to improve with Signalling upgrade

Punctuality on WR’s Churchgate-Borivali stretch is expected to improve with Signalling upgrade

Mumbai:  Punctuality on Western Railways slow corridor is expected to improve in a year as the authorities have decided to improve the signalling system on the Churchgate-Borivali stretch.

More than 700 services run on the slow corridor but punctuality has been a problem, especially when a failure or a trespassing related incident happens.

WR’s divisional railway commissioner Shailendra Kumar said, “There are 86 signals on the Churchgate-Borivali slow stretch, which will have to rectified. The work will cost Rs 8 crore but it will take at least 18 months to complete this take this task.”

These 86 signal, on Up and Down corridor, have three aspect signal. It means that signal switches from red to yellow and green. WR wants to convert this signal to four aspect that allows signal to turn from red, yellow, double yellow to green

Shailendra Kumar said, “In the three aspect signal, the motorman has to restrict his speed. Whereas, in four aspect the motorman can run at faster speed, thus ensuring that there is no loss of punctuality.”

The present punctuality gets hindered because there as as many as 156 signal, of which almost half of them are on three aspect.

WR also runs Bombardier rakes, which have a speed restriction of 70 kmph on slow corridor. WR officials are hopeful that this speed restriction can be relaxed to 80 kmph once the work is completed.

The tenders are likely to be finalised in six months and thereafter it would take almost 8 to 12 months but impact on punctuality can be felt as and when the work progresses.

As of now, around 10-15 services lose punctuality but it has a cascading effect for longer period, especially during the peak hours when frequency comes down to 3-4 minutes. The signalling system beyond Borivali is not a problem.