Monday morning blues were worsened for train commuters, as the downpour and the resultant waterlogging and technical snags disrupted the services on the western and central railway.
WR cancelled 50 local train services, and 100 were delayed, while CR cancelled less than 40 local train services till 5.30pm. The problem on the western railway started at Nallasopara station, where the water on the tracks crossed the 200-mm danger mark, forcing fast local train services towards Churchgate to be completely shut. The local train services resumed around 11.30am and long-distance trains started to ply around 12.35pm.
On CR, waterlogging at Kalwa, Dadar, Sion, Matunga and Tilak Nagar slowed down the speed of the local trains. A small portion of a wall collapsed on the slow local train track at Sandhurst Road station. However, CR authorities removed the debris quickly, to help the operations start at 10.45am. “In the morning, the trains were running more than half-an-hour late. There was a delay of 15-20 minutes in the evening too,” said Prashant Badhe, 33, a regular commuter from Kalyan.
In the afternoon, the stretch between Dadar and Matunga witnessed a glitch in the track-changing points owing to waterlogging. The snag occurred on a fast local train towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and on a slow local train towards Kalyan railway station. This led to bunching of trains, bringing the services to a halt for an hour.
At Turbhe station, sparks from the pantograph of a local train, which draws power from the overhead wire, forced the services between Vashi and Thane to be shut. The train had to be towed away.
DK Sharma, general manager, CR, carried out a surprise inspection between CSMT and Thane in the afternoon. “The inspection was to review passenger amenities, cleanliness and monsoon arrangements,” said AK Singh, public relations officer, CR.
Around 4pm, CR and WR services were back to normal, but were operating at a delay of 30 minutes. The local trains were less crowded as the state had declared half-day during the second half of the day.
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