Signalling system snag hits Central Railway suburban local trains in Mumbai

Suburban services towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) were delayed by up to one hour and some services were cancelled, commuters said.

A snag in the signalling system hit the suburban train services of the Central Railway (CR) between Thakurli and Kalyan stations in Maharashtra’s Thane early on Monday, officials said, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.

The early morning snag led to huge crowds in locals trains and commuters said there was no space to walk at stations like Dombiwali and Kalyan. (HT File Photo/Representative Image)

Suburban services towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) were delayed by up to one hour and some services were cancelled, commuters said.

“There was a signal issue on DN (Kalyan bound) slow line just before Kalyan station,” Sunil Udasi, chief spokesperson of CR, said.

Udasi, however, said the trains were running just 10 to 15 minutes late.

Railway officials also said a local train was held up and slow services were diverted on down fast line. Some special services were run from Dombivali to accommodate extra crowd, they said.

The early morning snag led to huge crowds in locals trains and commuters said there was no space to walk at stations like Dombiwali and Kalyan. The snag at the start of the week left commuters fuming as many were late for their offices.

“A Karjat local for CSMT arrived at the Ghatkopar station at 9.47am instead of its scheduled time of 8.44am,” Sanjay Mestri, a commuter and an activist, said.

“Why does the signalling system always develop a snag on the next day of a mega block?” Raju Nate, a Badlapur resident, asked.

Nate said the train he took crawled between Badlapur for 55 minutes.

He was referring to the long mega block on the route on Sunday for the routine maintenance of overhead equipment, tracks and signalling system.

Nearly four million commuters travel on the local trains of the Central Railway.