With a festive surge in the offing today, BEST is making an early move to keep the city in motion. The civic transporter will have 136 additional buses running from 10.30 am on Friday for Raksha Bandhan 2026, officials said Thursday. They are targeting everything from rail hubs and bus terminals to residential pockets to deal with the volume.
Commuters should be aware of these key moves today:
– 136 additional buses to run
– Services begin from 10.30 am onwards
– Operations spread across 22 depots
– Routes cover major stations and neighbourhoods
– Extra buses if demand spikes further
What BEST is adding and when
Rolling out from various depots in and around Mumbai, the special services get underway at 10.30 am. BEST has timed the deployment to coincide with the peak windows when families are fanning out to make their Raksha Bandhan plans.
The aim is plain and simple, say officials: ease the strain on core corridors by upping last-mile capacity at interchanges and making sure trips to residential areas are dependable. It is a way of calibrating supply to the higher public transport demand the festival brings.
Where the extra buses will run
Services have been planned to tie in the important nodes of Mumbai and its adjacent cities. You will find them in Navi Mumbai on the Nerul and Belapur connectors as well as Vashi and Airoli. On the western side Borivali and Bhayandar are in scope, as are Thane and Mulund.
In the city proper, BEST is extending down to Colaba and Sewree and adding runs through Sion, Chembur and Mahul. The focus is to link the big railway and bus stations while also covering the dense neighbourhoods where one can expect family traffic during the festivities.
All told, 22 depots will be operating these services. On the western and north-western arc that means Oshiwara, Majas, Dindoshi, Magathane, Poisar, Malvani and Gorai. In the island city and central belt it is Worli, Wadala, Anik, Backbay and Mumbai Central.
For the eastern and north-eastern sectors, Dharavi, Kalakilla, Pratiksha Nagar, Santacruz, Deonar and Shivaji Nagar will be the anchor points, not to mention Kurla, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli and Mulund. The breadth of the depot network speaks to a full build-out rather than a handful of isolated specials.
Operational flexibility and passenger impact
BEST has left itself some room to manoeuvre. The undertaking has said it will put more buses out if a given route sees heavy demand. Such a contingency may prove necessary should midday or evening returns exceed what was projected.
Officials are clear on the intent: to facilitate easy travel for those attending Raksha Bandhan. By having extra capacity at the interchanges, the utility hopes to offer a predictable connection from the train and cut down on the wait and crowding at bus stops.
In effect, BEST is positioning itself as the shock absorber for public transport on a day like this. When the railways are channelling large numbers into stations, it is the buses that bridge the last mile and prevent congestion for thousands of family visits.
Security update in central Mumbai
On a separate note, police have put security on a tighter rein in Parel after a scuffle between two communities on Wednesday night in the wake of an Eid procession. Officers are poring over CCTV to put faces to those who were part of the violence, they say.
This kind of vigilance is the backdrop to the day’s commute. The authorities are set to balance crowd control and safety without letting essential services on the main corridors come to a halt.
It is a straightforward message for the commuter. From 10.30 am there will be more buses on the core routes, reaching out to the major stations and homes in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. And should the crowds get out of hand, BEST is on hand to add more.
