Mumbai heavy rains lead to cancellation of more than 100 local trains

Mumbai: Heavy rains disrupted local train services on some routes in Mumbai and its adjoining areas on Wednesday as more than 100 suburban trains were cancelled during the day, causing inconvenience to scores of commuters.

The Central Railway's suburban train services between Badlapur and Ambarnath in Thane district were stopped at 11.05 am due to waterlogging that disrupted the movement of trains from Kalyan to Karjat. The services on the Kalyan-Badlapur stretch were restored after seven hours, officials said.

Point failures between Kalyan and Kasara prompted railway officials to stop the services on the stretch at around 2.40 pm. Services on the Kalyan-Kasara route started running after nearly three hours, they said.

Central Railway's chief spokesperson Dr Shivraj Manaspure said more than 50 pairs of suburban services were cancelled on during the day.

Services on the Main line (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Kasara/Khopoli), and Harbour line (CSMT to Panvel) were affected during the day.

Since trains crawled or stood still on tracks, several commuters were seen walking on rail lines to reach the nearest station.

Mumbai and its adjoining Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts received heavy downpours since morning.

According to Rajnish Kumar Goyal, divisional manager of Central Railway’s Mumbai division, the Ambarnath-Badlapur stretch, which is part of the Kalyan-Karjat section, was opened for traffic around 6 pm.

He said that the Down (Karjat-bound) line was restored first followed by the Up line (CSMT-bound) about half an hour later.

Goyal said they had stopped the services as a precautionary measure as water was flowing 8 inches above the track level. Trains are being operated at 10 kmph on UP and Down lines, he said.

The official said they moved men and material to the spot to avoid any breach in the embankment as the water was fast moving and had current at some spots.

Dr Shivraj Manaspure, chief public relations officer of the Central Railway, said the Kalyan-Kasara section was restored at 5.25 pm.

Due to heavy rains and subsequent waterlogging, three railway track changing points failed on the north end of Kalyan, forcing the railway to stop its operation, Manaspure said.

Water-logged tracks and technical failures had prompted railway authorities to cancel several suburban services. Trains were running 10 to 30 minutes late on the Main line and 10-15 minutes on the Harbour line.

Commuters complained bunching of trains, due to which several of them jumped onto the tracks and walked to reach their desired destination or next station. They also complained of heavy rush at stations.

Earlier, the Central Railway said it had diverted some mail and express trains via Diva-Panvel-Karjat route and Daund-Manmad route, besides short-terminating and cancelling a few trains between Mumbai and Pune.

In the morning, train services on the Panvel-Belapur Harbour line route were affected due to a "point failure" at Panvel at 9.40 am. They were restored by 10 am, he said.

Manaspure said trains running between Mumbai and Pune, including the Pune-Mumbai Intercity Express, Pune-CSMT Deccan Express, Pune-CSMT Indrayani express, CSMT-Pune Sinhagad Express and CSMT-Pune Deccan Queen trains, were cancelled on Wednesday and will remain cancelled on Thursday as well.

"Fifteen long-distance trains were diverted via Thane-Diva-Panvel route instead of Kalyan as train services remained affected beyond Kalyan till evening," he said.

A video of AC local on the Central Railway went viral on social media, in which the local was pulling out of platform of a suburban station with open doors. The purported video was said to have been shot at Mulund station during the evening rush hour.

"Watch...How Dangerous is this? @drmmumbaicr. AC local moving with its doors open with packed crowd. There isnt a handle bar to hold on. #MumbaiRains," a Twitter user wrote, sharing the video on the micro blogging site.

As heavy rains lashed Mumbai and adjoining areas, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) started operating free bus services from major railway stations for the convenience of commuters on Wednesday night.

The MSRTC said its Mumbai and Thane divisions have planned to operate more than 100 buses for free from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Kurla, Thane, Kalyan and other major stations up to various residential areas.

It said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the state transport corporation to arrange for free buses so that office-goers can reach home early, a statement said.

Meanwhile, when asked about how many extra bus services operated for the passengers convenience, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) administration said it operated two extra buses from Ghatkopar for Mulund on 303 route.

A BEST spokesperson said that it had diverted buses on over half dozen routes via alternate routes due to a water-logged road at Sion on around 9.15 pm.