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Western line
Overview
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Mumbai,Maharashtra, India Palghar district, Maharashtra, India
Termini	Churchgate (south) Dahanu Road (north)
Stations	39
Website	Western Railways
Service
System	Mumbai Suburban Railway
Operator(s)	Western Railway zone
Depot(s)	Virar,Kandivli,Mumbai Central
Rolling stock	Jessop, Alstom, Siemens, Bombardier, Medha
Daily ridership	2.657 million (2022-23)[1]
Ridership	969.805 million (annual; 2022-23)
History
Opened	12 April 1867; 158 years ago (1867-04-12)
Technical
Line length	123.78 km (76.91 mi)
Character	At grade
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Electrification	25,000 VAC throughoverhead catenary
Route map Legend Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line Dahanu Road Vangaon Boisar Umroli Palghar Kelve Road Saphale Vaitarna River Vaitarna Virar Nallasopara Vasai Road Vasai Road–Roha line Naigaon Vasai Creek Bhayandar Mira Road Dahisar Dahisar River Borivali Kandivli Malad planned extension toBorivali Goregaon Ram Mandir Jogeshwari Andheri Blue Line Vile Parle Sahar Airport Santacruz Sahar Airport Khar Road Bandra Yellow Line Mithi River Mahim Junction Harbour line toWadala Road Matunga Road Central line toThane Dadar Prabhadevi Parel Central line toMumbai CSMT Lower Parel Mumbai Monorail Mahalaxmi Mumbai Central Aqua Line Grant Road Charni Road Marine Lines Churchgate Aqua Line This diagram: view talk edit

TheWestern line of theMumbai Suburban Railway is an Indian public transit system servingMumbai Metropolitan Region,Maharashtra. It consists of 37 stations fromDahanu Road toChurchgate railway station. It is operated byWestern Railways (WR). The entire line is at grade.

Trains are differentiated as slow and fast locals. Slow trains stop at all stations, while fast ones stop at main stations only and are preferable over longer distances. Trains usually start from and terminate at main stations. The section from Churchgate to Virar is aQuadruple track. An EMU car shed has been built betweenNallasopara andVirar which is the largestcar shed inAsia. A repair shop for EMUs is situated atMahalaxmi. There are also EMU car sheds atMumbai Central andKandivli.

Suburban service on what is now the Western line was offered by theBombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, which began running steam trains in 1867.^[2] Rakes operating on DC electricity were introduced on 5 January 1928.Leslie Wilson (politician), the then-Governor of Bombay inaugurated the line running betweenColaba andBorivali atMahalaxmi, in the presence of 700 invitees.^[3]

The proposal to plyElectric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains between Dahanu and Churchgate was approved in the 2012–13Railway Budget. In March 2013, 18 MEMU services ran between Virar and Dahanu daily.^[4][5]

On 16 April 2013, the 160th anniversary of the Indian Railways,^[6] Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal inaugurated the first EMU service between Churchgate and Dahanu Road.^[7][8] The first Churchgate-Dahanu local was flagged off around 10:47am and arrived at Churchgate at 1:44pm. Prior to the launch of this service, EMU services on WR only ran on the 60 km stretch between Churchgate and Virar.^[9][10]

The Western Line transported 127.94 crore passengers (1.28 billion) in the 2016-17 fiscal year. This is higher than the population of India according to the 2011 Census, which was recorded as 121.01 crores. During the same period, Western Railway sold 270.3 million tickets and 13.7 million season passes, earning a total revenue of₹818.48 crore (US$97 million) from its suburban rail operations.^[11]

• 12 April 1887: The BB&CI Railway commences daily service between Virar and Backbay
• 1870: Churchgate station opened
• 1873: Colaba Terminus commissioned
• 5 January 1928: First electric train runs between Colaba & Borivili
• 1930: Colaba station closed
• 1936: Steam engines are withdrawn from service; Borivili–Virar section electrified^[3]
• 2 March 1961: Introduction of 9-car trains
• 1972: Total number of services crosses the 500 mark
• 1986: Introduction of 12-car trains
• 1992: Introduction of special trains for ladies and reserved seating for seniors
• 1993: Introduction of special handicapped compartment
• 2003: Total number of services crosses the 1,000 mark
• 11 July 2006:7 bombs explode on first class coaches of WR trains during rush hour by Pakistani terror groupLashkar-e-Taiba, killing 209 and injuring more than 700.
• 2007: Indian Railways' first ATVMs introduced on WR; DC-AC conversion of Borivili–Virar section completed^[3]
• 21 November 2009 : Introduction of 15-car rakes
• November 2011: DC-AC conversion of Borivili–Vile Parle section complete^[3]
• 5 February 2012 : Conversion from DC to AC traction completed
• 16 April 2013 : Extension of line from Virar to Dahanu Road
• 27 November 2016 : 37th station,Ram Mandir railway station at Oshiwara was opened between Goregaon and Jogeshwari station.
• 25 December 2017 : The first air-conditioned suburban train service in India began at 10:32 AM departing from Borivali to Churchgate.^[12][13]
• 30 January 2020: First trans-habour line AC train inaugrated
• 17 December 2020: First AC local train of Central Railway'sCentral line was inaugurated at 05:42 AM departing Kurla for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus

(Names in bold indicate that the station is a fast train stop.)

‡ indicates the stations which Fast Up trains (to Churchgate) skip from around 5PM to 8PM.^[14]

;†A footbridge links Parel to Prabhadevi on the Western line.*A footbridge links Matunga to Matunga Road on the Western line, called Matunga Z bridge.

Churchgate railway station is the terminus railway station at the south end of Mumbai city. In Mumbai, Western Line (WR) suburban trains use this station as terminus. Long-distance trains and goods/oil tanker trains terminate atMumbai Central railway station instead. Trains also going from Mumbai Central to other cities halt at Dadar (DDR), Andheri, Borivali, Vasai Road and Virar.

Above list of stations is mentioned from south end going towards northern suburban areas falling on WR corridor.

Western Railway's EMU fleet consists of EMUs running onAC 25 kV power. WR uses seven 9-car rakes.

The Western line began running electric trains with DC power on 5 January 1928.^[15]

On 5 February 2012, WR finished converting the entire Western line from the earlier used 1,500 VDC to 25 kVAC power. The entire power conversion project cost about₹500crore. Since 25 kV AC power is 17 times stronger than DC, people riding on top of the trains will be killed if they come into contact with the overhead wires.^[16]

The project was also expected to improve the punctuality of train services, make them energy-efficient and allow a greater number of 12-coach and 15-coach trains to ply. Post-conversion, local trains will be able to achieve speeds of 100 km/h with ease. The next step would be to convert the remaining 9-coach trains to 12-coach ones, thus augmenting the carrying capacity by 33%.^[17] The system will need less maintenance.^[18]

While using DC traction, 22 substations provided power to suburban trains on the Western line. Since switching over to AC traction, substations at Mahalaxmi, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Borivli and Vasai supply 25 kV power to local trains.^[19]

As of 27 March 2012, the Western line has approximately 1,290 local services running, which carry about 3.55 million commuters every day.^[20] These 1290 local services are operated using 80 trains.^[21] Western Railways' EMUs are in 12 car and 15 car formations.^[22]

The first 9-car service on the Western line ran on 2 March 1961. The 9-car service has since been phased out, and the last service ran on the Western line on 20 November 2012.^[23] However, 10 services (six on CR and four on WR) were still operated as 9-car even after that date, as the track is shared by the Western line and the Harbour line. Harbour line platforms are too short to accommodate longer trains.^[24]

In 2010, 15 car services between Churchgate and Virar were introduced.^[25] They halt at all the stations between Borivli and Virar, and do not halt at any stations between Churchgate and Dadar. 15-coach trains are used in non-peak hours. They cannot be used in peak hours because the station platforms are too narrow to handle the increased foot traffic.^[26]

The following table shows the number of services and daily ridership on the Western line throughout its history.^[28]

WR has escalators at 26 stations including some main stations like Borivali, Andheri, Dadar, Vasai Road and Virar for the common people. This helps the physically challenged and senior citizens.

As of 29 April 2013, there are 102foot over bridges (FOB)^[29] and 8subways on the Western line.^[30]

The Train Management System (TMS) is used by both staff and passengers to monitor the location of trains. TMS enables commuters to know what trains will be arriving in the next 10 minutes. The system was implemented on the Western line in 2004.^[31]

Free Wi-Fi facility from the Indian Railways (RailWire) is provided at some stations of the Western Line like Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Khar Road, Andheri, Borivali, Bhayander, Vasai Road and Virar.

In 2011, 1,313 commuters died in accidents on the Western line, mainly via trespassing on ten particular stretches of track. Since mid-February 2012,Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel patrol the areas from 7am-11am and 5pm-10pm, the peak times for such incidents. Initially, they used posters in an education campaign and only cautioned offenders. They later escalated to arresting people.^[32]

• Western Railway Elevated Corridor
• Mumbai Suburban Railway
• List of Mumbai Suburban Railway stations
• Western Railways

• Mumbai Suburban Railway lines
• Railway lines opened in 1984
• Rail transport in Mumbai
• Transport in Vasai-Virar
• Transport in Mira-Bhayandar
• Transport in Mumbai
• Transport in Palghar

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