Rail fracture, rail roko disrupt CR’s morning peak-hour services

Around 40 lakh commuters travel on the CR daily.

A rail fracture between Chunabhatti and GTB Road station and a flash rail roko at Asangon station disrupted the central railway’s (CR) suburban services during morning peak hours on Tuesday.

Around 40 lakh commuters travel on the CR daily. (FILE)

Around 40 lakh commuters travel on the CR daily.

“The problem began when Rajyarani Express was given preference over a local train heading to CSMT. The local arrived on schedule, but left Asangaon station 17 minutes late, irking commuters who then stopped the express,” said Rajesh Ghaghav, president, Kalyan-Kasara and Karjat Passengers’ Association.

Even as the GRP registered a case, CR public relations department denied any such incident. “We have registered case against the 20-25 protesters,” said Samadhan Pawar, deputy commissioner of police, GRP. “I confirm there was no rail roko... it’s a rumour,” said Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer.

The CR said the express was not given preference.

Meanwhile, the Harbour line services were affected following a rail fracture on the south-bound track between Chunabhatti and GTB Nagar stations around 8am. CR officials blamed illegal water pipelines crossing under the tracks for the rail failure. “There has been continuous leakage of water on the tracks, which led to the glitch,” said SK Jain, divisional railway manager of CR’s Mumbai division