At least 80 trains cancelled, 150-200 BEST buses diverted in Mumbai

Mumbai rain: Trains were running late by 15-20 minutes on WR, with over 20 suburban services being cancelled.

Mumbai: The heavy downpour on Thursday derailed the city’s public transport, with at least 80 suburban train services being cancelled across Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR), while 150-200 BEST buses were diverted.

Children push their father's scooter through a flooded street as it rains in Mumbai, India, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP)

Waterlogging at a few locations, poor visibility due to heavy rains, and delays in the arrival of long-distance trains into Mumbai slowed down the speed of trains during the day, according to officials.

Trains were running late by 15-20 minutes on WR, with over 20 suburban services being cancelled. CR had cancelled over 60 suburban services by Thursday evening, which could cross 100 by the end of the day, sources said.

“Unlike the last time, when we saw train services were stopped due to waterlogging at Kurla, Chunabhatti and Bhandup, our trains did not stop this time around, although there were delays,” said a senior CR official on condition of anonymity. “We carried out necessary works to address the issues at these locations, which paid dividends on Thursday when train services continued despite the spell of heavy rains.”

Around 10.30 am, water started accumulating on the tracks between Kurla and Ghatkopar stations, but it was below the danger level. So, all the suburban trains were running at a reduced speed. “We raised tracks at Chunabhatti and Kurla by a few inches, which helped us in preventing the waterlogging from crossing the danger mark. We again cleaned the culverts and removed muck that had choked the drains in areas of Kurla and Bhandup, where there was waterlogging a few days ago,” said an engineer from CR.

As day progressed, the problem area was between Badlapur and Vangani. Officials said this was around the same location where the Mahalaxmi Express got stranded on tracks a few years ago and passengers had to be rescued. Rail staff sent to the site were constantly monitoring and updating the situation to the control room at Badlapur, where water was at the track level but it did not breach the danger mark, officials added.

The waterlogging and increasing water levels between Badlapur and Vangani also led to CR cancelling a few long-distance trains on the Mumbai-Pune route, including Deccan Queen, Pragati Express and Intercity Express, for Thursday and Friday.

BEST buses diverted

The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) had to divert around 150-200 buses across 20 routes, including Kherwadi, Kalanagar, Saki Naka, Bandra West, Linking Road, and Kurla West. “The bus routes were affected due to waterlogging on roads, due to which we had to divert our buses on different routes. There were also cases of tree collapse that also led to diversions,” said a BEST official.

Autorickshaw and taxi unions said that over 25% of their fleet was off the roads due to the rains. The union leaders said the drivers and permit owners preferred parking their kaali-peelis rather than running them on water-logged roads. Shared autos and taxis were operating from various railway stations.

Commuters preferred to take the metro rail wherever available, although operators said there was a drop of 5-7% in total daily passengers, as people preferred working from home.