Mumbai locals hit by multiple technical snags

Services were disrupted on Monday after separate technical problems, causing delays, cancellations and overcrowding during the morning peak hours

Mumbai: Suburban train services on both Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) were disrupted on Monday after separate technical problems, causing delays, cancellations and overcrowding during the morning peak hours.

Mumbai locals hit by multiple technical snags

On the Central Line, train services were briefly affected at Mulund after a piece of wire fell on the overhead electrical equipment during the demolition of an old foot overbridge. On the Western Line, signalling failures at three locations disrupted services through the morning.

The incident at Mulund station occurred around 11.53 am, during work being carried out by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC). The piece of wire falling on the overhead equipment triggered heavy sparking, a loud sound and smoke, alarming passengers at the station. “We are investigating the issue. There were no repercussions on the train services,” said an official from MRVC.

CR officials, however, said that train services were disrupted. As a precaution, train movement on the Down slow line towards Kalyan was stopped. Railway staff rushed to the site, removed the construction material and inspected the overhead equipment. “Services were restored at around 12.17 pm. At least three local trains were detained during the disruption,” said a CR official.

The incident raised questions about the safety protocols being followed during construction and maintenance work on busy suburban railway lines. Railway infrastructure projects often involve heavy construction material and equipment being used in proximity to overhead wires and tracks. MRVC officials did not specify whether any action had been taken against the contractor carrying out the demolition work.

Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of the Federation of Suburban Rail Passengers Association, said, “Those responsible for these shortcomings in maintenance and implementation of works should be held responsible for such failures. So many delays in a single day due to technical failures is not acceptable.”

Western Line commuters also faced widespread disruption due to a series of technical failures at three different locations.

At Vasai Road, a track-changing mechanism, known as a point, failed on the Diva-bound Up and Down fast lines at around 4.46 am. Railway staff were deployed to the site to clamp the point, resulting in the detention of Up fast trains and delays from the early morning.

Another point failure was reported at Dadar at around 10.10 am, affecting train movements through the busy station. At Goregaon, two points on the Up and Down Harbour Lines failed at around 10.22 am. Railway technical teams were sent to the location to attend to the fault, the official added.

The three failures, occurring at different points on the suburban network, affected train movements throughout the morning. Around 40 local services were cancelled, according to railway officials, while several others ran late.

The disruption was particularly severe during the morning peak hours, when thousands of commuters were travelling to work. Delayed services resulted in crowded trains and platforms at several stations as passengers waited for the next available service.

The disruption also led to passengers looking for alternative ways to reach their destinations. Some commuters were seen walking along railway tracks to reach nearby stations amid the delays.

The incidents have once again highlighted the vulnerability of Mumbai’s suburban railway network to both technical failures and construction-related safety lapses, particularly during periods of heavy passenger movement.