Second ghat line restored, Deccan Queen to resume ops from today

According to the CR, the south east down line was restored on July 14 following intensive repair work

With the Central Railway (CR) restoring and reopening the south east down line between Karjat and Lonavla late Tuesday night, rail services between Pune and Mumbai are set to return to near normal from Thursday. With the reopening of the second railway line in the landslide-hit ghat section, the iconic Deccan Queen and Mumbai CSMT-Pune Intercity Express will resume services, bringing relief to thousands of passengers affected by disruptions over the past 10 days.

Three goods trains were first operated as trial runs. (FILE)

According to the CR, the south east down line was restored on July 14 following intensive repair work. Three goods trains were first operated as trial runs. Thereafter, train number 22107 CSMT–Latur Express became the first passenger train to use the restored line. It departed from Karjat at 11.18 pm on July 14, crossed the affected ghat section at a restricted speed of 20 kmph, and reached Lonavla at 12.27 am on July 15, confirming the line’s operational readiness.

Following successful restoration of the second railway line, the CR has announced that train number 12123/12124 CSMT–Pune–CSMT Deccan Queen and train number 12127/12128 CSMT–Pune–CSMT Intercity Express will resume regular services from Thursday. Railway officials said that most trains that have been cancelled till July 17 are expected to be progressively restored from July 18.

Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer, CR, said, “The restoration of the second railway line in the Mumbai-Pune ghat section was completed on Tuesday night, enabling us to gradually resume train services. From July 16, the Deccan Queen and one more intercity service will be brought back into operation, although the final operational plan is being worked out. The operating department is finalising which specific trains will run and how they will be scheduled.”

“Most of the trains that were cancelled until July 17 are expected to be restored from July 18. Since train reservations are involved, advancing the restoration by just a day will not significantly benefit passengers. Therefore, from July 18 onwards, almost all mail and express services are expected to resume,” he added.

Nila said that multiple landslides had affected nine locations across the three railway lines in the Lonavla-Karjat ghat section. “Restoration work at these sites has largely been completed, with only one railway line still requiring repairs. Our teams are working continuously, and we are hopeful that this remaining restoration work will also be completed within the next 10 to 12 days. Once that is done, all three lines will be fully operational again. At present, with two lines available, we will be able to operate almost all mail, express and intercity trains,” he said.

Heavy rainfall on July 6 triggered multiple landslides in the Lonavla–Karjat ghat section, damaging all three railway lines and severely disrupting train movement between Pune and Mumbai. The middle line was restored on July 7, allowing a limited number of services to resume; while the second line became operational on July 14. Restoration work on the third and final up line is still underway.

More than 1,200 labourers, along with senior officers, engineers and supervisors, have been working round the clock over the past 10 days to clear debris and restore the damaged tracks. The CR has deployed specialised equipment, including a boulder special train, Unimat and Duomatic track machines, Poclain excavators and JCB machines; while labour special trains have been operated to transport workers to inaccessible restoration sites.