Rough ride: 100 Western Railway services cancelled after coach derails

Read | Mumbai: Western line hit as coach derails between Elphinstone and Lower Parel 

“Suburban train traffic on Western Railway’s slow corridor were fully restored by the later hours of the day. While up slow line was cleared by 10.27 am, the down slow line was cleared for traffic at 11.10 am. Due to this disruption, about 100 suburban services were cancelled and some services delayed. More than 20 special suburban services were operated for the convenience of commuters,” a Western Railway official said.

Traffic from Mahim station was moved to the fast line until the restoration could be completed. This upset many commuters as they had to get down either at Bandra, Dadar or Mumbai Central to reach their workplace.

[related-post]

Beena Patel, a commuter from Borivli, said, “I was at Borivli station since 8.30 am. Not only was my train late, it was also stopped for at least half an hour just before reaching Bandra station. I had to get down at Dadar and literally fight for a cab as majority of the office goers headed for Parel station swarmed at Dadar for a taxi.”

Commuters also complained that the trains were overcrowded.

Viraj Damle, who was travelling from Dombivli to Malad, said, “I arrived at Andheri station at 9.20 am to catch a Borivli slow for Malad. Instead of my regular 9.29 am train, the indicator was put up for 9.34 am slow service, which was shown expected in 15 minutes. There was not a single announcement to indicate the status of 9.29 am service. The 9.34 am service finally arrived overcrowded at 9.52 am.”

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply Transport claimed to have helped commuters with 23 additional bus services to reach offices. “On Tuesday, BEST operated 23 extra buses on route no 202, 203, 241, 351, 33, 83, 84, 167 due to derailment of a western local,” its spokesperson said.

Also, 25-odd workers of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) protested outside Churchgate station against the inconvenience caused to the commuters due to the derailment.

Surekha Pednekar, Mumbai Mahila Parishad president of the NCP, said, “We protested outside Churchgate station. This is yet another incident where commuters had to bear the brunt of faults of the railway workers.”

A three-member committee has been formed to study the cause of the derailment, the report of which will be submitted by the end of the week, confirmed Western Railway.

50 injured at Vasai platform

Around 50 passengers were injured after falling into a gutter when the slab of a staircase slid at a platform on the Vasai station on Monday morning. The cancellation of many train services led to a huge crowd at Vasai station, which put a heavy load on the slab and it gave way.

However Western Railway officials claimed that the particular spot does not come under their jurisdiction.

“The incident happened in front of middle exit gate at platform no 1 of Vasai Road West station. This particular spot comes under the jurisdiction of Vasai Virar Corporation,” said a Western Railway official.