Technical snags at 2 stations delay local train services on Mumbai's Western Railway network

Mumbai: Local train services on the Mumbai's Western Railway network were disrupted on Tuesday morning due to the "points failures" at Santacruz and Bhayandar stations, officials said.

A points failure means a fault with the movable pieces of track or their operating equipment that enable trains to change tracks.

The officials said that the failed track changing points at both these locations were restored in less than an hour.

Commuters complained that the suburban trains were running 25 to 30 minutes late, resulting in overcrowding on trains and railway stations. Due to this, the office-goers and other commuters faced a tough time in the rush hour.

"As suburban services were hit, the crowd at Virar station has swelled," a commuter, who travels daily to Churchgate, where his office is located.

A Western Railway spokesperson said the points failure at the Bhayandar station occurred at 5 am and it was restored at 5.45 am, while the fault at the Santacruz station took place at 5.20 am and was rectified at 5.50 am.

The Western Railway operates more than 1,300 suburban services and nearly 35 lakh commuters travel on its network spread between Churchgate in South Mumbai and Dahanu in Palghar district on a daily basis.