At least five trains had to depart late from Pune railway station after an overhead cable tripped early Saturday morning. Regular commuters going to Mumbai in Deccan Queen were stranded for more than an hour as it took time to repair the overhead equipment (OHE) wire.
According to officials, trains operating on electric supply were affected due to wire tripping.
“The OHE wire tripped for an hour from 7.15 to 8.10 am between Pune and Ghorpodi, thus causing the delay for the departure of trains,” said Manoj Jhawar, public relations officer with the Pune railway division.
“The trains which were delayed include Deccan Queen, Pragati Express, Pune-Lonavla local, Secunderabad-Mumbai-Duronto Express and Trichy Ganganangar Humsafar Express. Shunting of diesel trains was operational but the trains running on electric suffered,” he said.
The passengers from Ahmedabad-Pune-Duronto Express suffered the most as the coaches stopped outside Pune platform number 2. This train arrives at 8.30 am.
According to regular commuter and president, Railway Pravasi Group Harsha Shah, many commuters faced inconvenience and were stranded at the railway station for hours.
“I was in Deccan Queen going towards Mumbai when we were informed that the train was delayed. We also saw many commuters walking on tracks when the Duronto train stopped suddenly and the coaches were standing up to loco-shed, which is far away from the platform,” Shah said.
{{/usCountry}}“I was in Deccan Queen going towards Mumbai when we were informed that the train was delayed. We also saw many commuters walking on tracks when the Duronto train stopped suddenly and the coaches were standing up to loco-shed, which is far away from the platform,” Shah said.
{{/usCountry}}When HT called the passengers of Deccan Queen at around 9:35 am, the train was still at Khandala.
“The train departs at 7:15 from Pune station and reaches Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by 10:30 am. However, today by 9:30 am, it was still crossing Khandala ghat and is likely to be delayed now,” said Manish Bandekar, a passenger.