The Netravati Express, a daily train operating between Mumbai and Kerala, has returned to the Kurla LTT terminus. For the past month, the service was shifted to Panvel due to maintenance work at Kurla station. This change, which involved the train departing from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram and terminating at Panvel from Thiruvananthapuram, caused significant inconvenience for passengers from areas such as Colaba, Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath, Andheri, Borivli, and Powai.
Passengers often had to travel to Panvel by taxi during heavy rains, resulting in taxi fares that exceeded the cost of a third AC ticket to Kerala, effectively doubling their travel expenses. Additionally, the lack of adequate seating and washrooms at Panvel created further difficulties. This marks the second instance of the Netravati Express being shifted to Panvel for a month due to maintenance at Kurla station. Mumbai Malayalees are concerned that once the terminus under construction at Panvel is completed, trains to Kerala, including the Netravati Express, may be gradually moved from Kurla. There is speculation that the frequent changes in the Netravati Express schedule are just “test doses”.
All Kerala-bound trains, including the daily Netravati Express, the bi-weekly Kochuveli Garib Rath Express, Kochuveli Express, and Ernakulam Duronto Express, currently operate from Kurla LTT. These trains reach Panvel via Thane and continue to Kerala via the Konkan route. The advantage of operating from the Kurla LTT is that passengers from various regions, including Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai, can board from their convenient locations. If the service is moved to Panvel, it would be comparable to starting a journey from Ernakulam for Kottayam passengers. Therefore, if there are plans to shift Kerala-bound trains from Kurla to Panvel in the future, Mumbai Malayalees should unite against such changes, according to passenger organizations.
Move to terminate harbour line services at Sandhurst Road
The Central Railway is planning to terminate trains operating on the Panvel-CSMT Harbour Line at Sandhurst Road station. This change is being made to facilitate the construction of railway lines 5 and 6 to Parel. Consequently, passengers travelling to CSMT via the Harbour Line will need to disembark at Sandhurst Road and transfer to a local train on the main line or opt for road travel. Currently, Harbour Line services use platforms 1 and 2 at Sandhurst Road. The plan is to convert them into main-line platforms for the Parel extension project. As a result, there will be no direct local train service from CSMT to the Panvel region, causing significant inconvenience to Harbour Line passengers.
