For Mumbai’s Western Railway (WR) commuters, there is good news and bad. While the WR got the Borivli-Kandivli sixth line stretch running on Saturday, it has cancelled 102 local trains on January 20 for
related work, which would mean inconvenience during peak hours. The 3.21-km section between Kandivali and Borivali was commissioned and opened for traffic after safety approval from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) on January 18. The Western Railway announced the section will be operational from Monday, January 19. The stretch marks the completion of the Bandra Terminus-Borivali phase 1 of the sixth line project.
THE 102 TRAIN CANCELLATIONS
The Western Railway (WR) has cancelled 102 suburban local train services on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. This disruption is affecting services mainly on the fast corridor of the Western Line, including major routes between Borivali, Andheri and Churchgate.
The cancellations and operational curbs are due to maintenance and technical work at the Kandivali car shed:
The entry and exit at the Kandivali car shed have been suspended temporarily for work, including track connection and related engineering activities. Owing to speed limits on both up and down fast lines between Kandivali and Malad, several fast services have been slowed down or cancelled.
This is linked with the final stage of 6th Line infrastructure integration between Kandivali and Borivali.
Due to suspension of exit & entry at Kandivali car shed and speed restrictions imposed on UP & Down fast line between Kandivali and Malad some suburban services will remain cancelled on 20th January, 2026.#WRUpdates pic.twitter.com/HnstI5PouC
— Western Railway (@WesternRly) January 20, 2026
WHICH SERVICES ARE AFFECTED
A majority of the affected are 12-coach local trains
Several long-distance local trains (15-coach) were cancelled
Some air-conditioned (AC) local services were also cancelled.
THE SIXTH LINE PROJECT
The sixth line project is part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-II) and covers around 30 km of track between Mumbai Central and Borivali. It’s being executed in multiple phases, progressively extending the dedicated sixth railway track to improve operational efficiency and capacity. The sixth line is an additional railway track built between Kandivali and Borivali stations on the Western Railway corridor.
It has been commissioned and opened for operations after successful safety inspection in January 2026 as part of the first phase of the project from Bandra Terminus to Borivali.
The new line runs for about 3.21 km between Kandivali and Borivali.
Phase I: Bandra Terminus to Borivali
Stage 1: Khar to Goregaon (8.8 km)
Commissioned & operational since November 2023.
Stage 2: Goregaon to Kandivali (4.54 km)
Commissioned & operational since October 2024.
Stage 3: Kandivali to Borivali (3.21 km)
Commissioned and opened after CRS inspection in January 2026. This completes Phase I.
Phase II: Bandra Terminus Southwards (to Mumbai Central)
Future extension planned to extend the 6th Line further south from Bandra Terminus to Mumbai Central.
HOW IT WILL HELP
The Western Railway corridor between Churchgate and the northern suburbs is one of India’s busiest suburban networks.
The sixth line project was undertaken to:
Separate long-distance (mail/express) trains from suburban local trains, giving each type of service its own dedicated tracks.
Reduce congestion and improve punctuality for both local and non-suburban services.
Increase overall track capacity and operational flexibility on the Western line.
With the new line, long-distance trains don’t need to use suburban tracks between these crucial stations, making local services more reliable.
Once fully integrated, the extra track capacity may allow for more local trains in the future.
While the line was being built (e.g., late 2025), several local services were affected or cancelled due to construction blocks.
