Delayed trains, traffic jams slow down city

Normal life was thrown out of gear in the fast-paced city due to heavy rainfall on Wednesday. Mumbaiites faced hardship reaching their workplace and returning home as trains were running late, roads and highways witnessed traffic jams

Mumbai: Normal life was thrown out of gear in the fast-paced city due to heavy rainfall on Wednesday. Mumbaiites faced hardship reaching their workplace and returning home as trains were running late, roads and highways witnessed traffic jams.

Thane, India - June, 23, 2023: Due to the Narrow FOB at platform no 9 and 10 on thane Railway Station , there is a possibility of Stampede for the Commuters ,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on,Friday, June, 23, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Trains on both the Central and Western (CR and WR) railways were delayed, though the authorities termed it “normal”.

According to sources, trains were running late by at least 15 to 20 minutes on Central railway’s main and harbour lines during the peak hours in the morning and evening. It began with a technical glitch at Karjat yard. “The problem was reported from 8am to 8.45am,” a CR official said.

This led to severe delays of as much as 20-25 minutes. Coupled with heavy rains, the visibility of motormen was affected, which also led to slow movement of trains. The problem had affected the Karjat-Khopoli stretch plus the trains arriving and departing to Pune.

As the day progressed, there were delays due to water accumulating on tracks in Thane. “Until Wednesday evening at least 25 services were cancelled,” an official added. The CR spokesperson, however, denied any cancellation or delays.

The trains on WR were too delayed, however, the flow was better when compared to CR. Trains were running 10 minutes late on an average.

In the evening, a technical failure near Boisar led to train services getting delayed. The WR spokesperson said that there was a signal failure at Boisar due to which trains were running with caution. Motormen also attributed the delay to low visibility.

“Today’s train journey turned into an ordeal due to a frustrating delay of 22 minutes. The drenched platforms and overcrowded trains due to the delay only intensified the inconvenience,” Ruby Rajawat, a resident of Andheri who travels to Mumbai Central for work, said.

Meanwhile, traffic snarls were reported in various parts of the city due to waterlogging. The Andheri subway had to be temporarily closed for traffic at least twice. Several stretches on the Western Express Highway, including Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, witnessed heavy traffic jams.

Vehicular movement was impacted between Dahisar and Vakola in the south-bound direction, according to a tweet by the Mumbai Traffic Police. There was a choc-a-block from WEH junction to Jogeshwari–Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) around 10.50 am.

At Bandra, a vehicle belonging to the Mumbai Police and an SUV overturned on the Bandra Reclamation flyover. This led to the blocking of two lanes along the WEH, which further led to massive jams. On the Eastern Freeway, there was a tyre burst incident and another vehicle broke down on the Santacruz Chembur Link Road.

At Magathane, due to the mud slide next to the metro station, the roads were partially barricaded. This also caused problems for motorists.

Kayomarz Karai, a 3D artist and resident of Malad said, “It took me over one hour to reach Malad from Andheri at 10.15am. I travel by road for my classes as I am a trainer for animation. Today the traffic was so bad that I reached home at least an hour late”.

Same was the situation at other locations like Sion and Thane.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) authorities said they had to seek diversion of buses on certain routes. “At least 10-12 bus routes were diverted in Borivali East, Dahisar East, Govandi due to rains and even preparation of Eid al-Adha,” an official said.