COMMUTERS ON Mumbai's suburban lines encountered several difficulties on Monday as many services were delayed due to the onset of Mumbai's first rains of the season. According to sources, a total of 170 local train services were cancelled during the day. Of which, 13 pairs of services were from Western Railway Mumbai division and remaining from Central Railway Mumbai division. The problem on the Central line started in the morning when services on the Central Railway's main corridor here were disrupted due to signal failure in Thane. The failure led to bunching of trains on the line with commuters facing delays. The problem was further exacerbated in the evening as rains and heavy winds lashed the city. An overhead wire mast between Thane and Mulund tilted at around 4 pm disrupting traffic and affecting services on all the Central lines. The closure of down slow local services on the mainline of CR during office departure hours caused overcrowding at railway stations. Ram Karan Yadav, General Manager of Central Railway, oversaw operations from the control room. He ordered urgent repairs to the leaning pillar and deployed extra staff for crowd management at prominent railway stations. Additional manpower from the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police were deployed at key stations like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Ghatkopar, and Thane. As wind speeds decreased, up-down fast local services resumed. Subsequently, services on the Harbour, Trans Harbour, and Up Slow Lines were also restored. On the Central Railway mainline, slow traffic resumed around 7 pm after the overhead wire issue was rectified. Earlier, up-slow and up-down fast local trains were operational, albeit with delays. Swapnil Nila, the Chief Public Relations Officer of CR Mumbai division, stated that express and mail services were delayed, and local services were operated to minimise inconvenience to suburban passengers. This incident led to the regulation of seven long-distance trains. Along with railways, the city's first Metro line, running from Ghatkopar to Versova via Andheri, experienced disruptions for 10 minutes in the evening. Officials reported that heavy winds resulted in clothes getting entangled in the overhead electric wires near Airport Road Metro station, resulting in suspension of Metro services. Similarly, the adverse weather conditions, including dust storms, forced the closure of the airport runway from 4 pm onwards. An official statement from MIAL stated, "CSMIA temporarily suspended flight operations for around 66 minutes due to low visibility and gusty winds. Operations resumed at 17:03 hrs. During this time, the airport witnessed 15 diversions."
