Angry commuters stop local train in Thane over delay

Mumbai: Angry over the suburban services running late, commuters stopped a local train at Titwala station in neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra for more than 20 minutes during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, officials said.

A group of 10-15 commuters including women jumped on the tracks at around 8.30 am and stopped the local train at Titwala, located 55 km from Mumbai. The train was heading from Kasara in Thane district to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai, they said.

The railway police later removed the protesters from the tracks, the officials said.

Local trains are considered as the lifeline of Mumbai and its adjoining Thane and Palghar districts, and office-goers mostly prefer it as the fastest mode of transport during the morning peak hours.

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"The Kasara local was held up due to the commuters' agitation from 8.30 am to 8.51 am," a spokesperson of the Central Railway (CR) said, adding that the train was delayed due to a technical glitch in a goods train engine running ahead of it.

The Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said, "We will find the reason for the delay. But agitation and stopping a train is not the way. It causes inconvenience to other passengers." Another CR official said the local train was delayed due to the agitation, but it did not affect the schedule of the other suburban services.

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) official said passengers were agitated over the delay of the CSMT-bound Kasara local train which was scheduled to arrive at Titwala station at 8.19 am, but reached there at around 8.30 am.

Personnel of the Government Railway Police and the RPF removed the protesting passengers from the tracks and extra security was deployed at the station, the official said.

The commuters had complained that local trains were running late on a regular basis as a result, they could not reach their offices on time during the morning peak hours, he said.

The Central Railway daily operates 1,810 services on its Main Line (CSMT to Kasara/Khopoli), Harbour line (CSMT-Goregoan/Panvel), Trans-Harbour line (Vashi-Thane/Panvel) and Bamandongri-Belapur/ Seawood line.