Mumbai, Oct 26 (PTI) A fire in a relay room at a station and a wire hanging from the overhead equipment disrupted Mumbai suburban train services on the Central Railway route during the morning rush hour on Monday, causing hardship to commuters.
Following the disruptions, crowds swelled at stations and inside trains on the first working day of the week. Suburban trains remained stalled on the tracks for more than an hour at some locations, commuters claimed. Several passengers subsequently got off and walked along the tracks.
The suburban timetable on the Central Railway’s mainline, which connects south Mumbai with far-flung areas of Thane and Raigad districts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and the long-distance train services were affected.
The Central Railway’s mainline connects Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai to Kalyan in Thane district, where the route splits into two corridors, one towards Kasara in Thane and the other towards Khopoli in Raigad district.
A foreign wire was detected hanging from the overhead equipment (OHE) at 9.23 am on the down slow line between Mulund and Thane, at 31.14 km from CSMT, Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila said.
An overhead equipment block was granted at 10 am to facilitate the necessary action. Suburban services on the affected line were restored after about an hour of efforts, he said.
Around the same time, a major signalling failure occurred at Kanjurmarg in Mumbai, further affecting mainline services.
Nila said a fire in the relay room led to the signalling failure. Further investigation into the cause of the incident will be conducted after restoration, he added.
According to a Central Railway spokesperson, the signalling failure occurred at around 9.30 am, when all lines at Kanjurmarg were reported down, and signals went blank. This affected train operations at the station and on the section between Vikhroli and Bhandup.
Railway authorities introduced alternative arrangements to regulate train movements.
Trains were operated under a specific procedure at Kanjurmarg and between Vikhroli and Bhandup, the Central Railway said.
“Absolute block working” was introduced between Vikhroli and Bhandup for the down local and fast lines, and between Bhandup and Vikhroli for the up slow and fast lines. Train movements were also authorised under special authority, it said.
Later, services resumed on the specific routes, it added.
A college student travelling to Churchgate in south Mumbai said, “An Ambernath to CSMT local train which arrived in Thane at 10.50 am was halted between Mulund and Nahur for one and a half hours. It departed Thane at 11.05 am and was later stuck between the stations.”
Passengers were clueless as there were no announcements inside the train about the situation ahead, the student claimed.
(PTI News)
