Will the city be able to handle more trains? The recent approval of major projects that would increase the capacity and number of trains connecting various nodes of the country to the city will only lead to congestion and further delays if new termini and rail hubs on the outskirts of the city are not created, experts say. While Central Railway (CR) is working on a full-fledged mega terminus at Panvel station along with a maintenance yard and other allied facilities, Western Railway (WR) has announced plans to build termini at Jogeshwari and Vasai.

At present, WR runs 1,406 suburban services and, on an average, 46 trains arrive and depart every day in the Mumbai area (Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Dadar and Borivli). Apart from these, there are 60 ‘through’ trains, which halt at Vasai Road and go to the CR or towards Vadodara. These trains (30 up and 30 down) pass between Vadodara and Vasai. Also, two food corporation freight trains (one up and one down) travel up to Jogeshwari.