The fifth Thane-Diva rail line of Central Railway is now operational. Thane News – Times of India

Thane: In a historic moment for suburban commuters of the Central Railway, the fifth railway line in the downward direction between Thane and Diva has been made operational from Sunday after a 14-hour infrastructure block.
The development will now help improve traffic movement between Mumbai and the extended suburbs.
Shiv Sena MP Dr Shrikant Shinde said the sixth line and the last phase of the corridor expansion project will be activated next month after a major block, leading to complete separation of suburban and outstation train and goods traffic on the Kalyan-Kurla section.
“The old down direction line between Thane and Diva, which was rendered redundant after the slow tracks were shifted to the new corridor, has now been converted for all fast local trains heading towards Kalyan. LTT and coming from Trombay Wally mail express and goods trains should use the fifth corridor passing through the Parsik tunnel,” said Shivaji Sutar, the chief PRO of the Central Railway. Sutar said outstation trains running from Dadar and Mumbai CSMT can either be operated through the newly activated Down fast line passing through Kalwa and Mumbra or can be diverted through the Parsik tunnel route.
MRVC chief PRO Sunil Udasi said around 500 workers were employed in services, which included cutting and connecting railway lines in Thane and Diva. Udasi said a 72-hour block scheduled in early February will be used to activate the last phase of the corridor, converting the redundant up slow line into a fast line between Diva and Thane.
Shinde pointed out, “The entire suburban and outstation traffic between LTT and Kalyan will be delinked by mid-February, which will go a long way in improving the movement of suburban traffic between Mumbai and extended suburbs as it will bring goods along with local people. and will reduce the overlapping of external train paths.” ,
Experts said the expansion of the corridor for the Mumbai suburban section was planned two decades ago in view of the rapid growth in commuter volumes. While additional lines between Kurla-Kalyan will become operational next month, all eyes are on the next phase of extension between Kurla and CSMT, which is necessary for complete separation of lines for faster movement of trains.