Protest over 20-minute delay shuts Central Railway for 6 hours

MUMBAI: Commuters on the Central Railway (CR) route were hassled on Friday morning, as a protest over frequent delays at Badlapur station held up the services for more than six hours.

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According to the CR, a defect in signals at the Bhivpuri levelcrossing delayed a Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-bound Karjat train, which was scheduled to reach Badlapur at 5.05am, by 20 minutes.

The agitated mob then protested in front of the train till 10.55am, bringing the traffic between Ambernath and Karjat to a complete standstill. A Karjat-bound Thane train, too, was stopped, said the CR in a press release.

Protesters said the 5.05am train has been running behind schedule for the past 6-7 months, inconveniencing passengers daily. They demanded punctual services and better infrastructure at the station.

Nearly 50 suburban services were partially or fully cancelled and all trains were running 15 to 20 minutes late during morning peak hours. While four long-distance trains were held up, two express trains were diverted.

Amitabh Ojha, divisional railway manager, CR, Mumbai, was transferred abruptly to Guntur on Friday evening. Bilaspur DRM Ravindra Goyal will handle the charge. Goyal has previously worked in Mumbai as the chief traffic planning manager (CPTM).

“Every day more than thousands of commuters from Badlapur travel to Mumbai. On several occasions, they miss their connecting train because of the delay. The repeated delays are to blame for the outburst,” said Rajesh Ghangav, president, Kalyan-Kasara and Karjat Passengers’ Association.

The agitation at Badlapur had a cascading effect on the entire suburban network.

Taking note of the issue, railway minister Suresh Prabhu in urged commuters on Twitter not to agitate and directed the general manager and divisional railway manager to Badlapur station to resolve the problem. Narendra Patil, chief public relations officer, CR, said, “Three level-crossing gates at Thakurli, Kalwa, Diva and Ambivli are to blame for the delay. The railways have agreed to construct a flyover to ease vehicular traffic, but have not got required support from the Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli civic bodies. The issue has been pending since 2014. The corporations are not taking steps to clear encroachment and make way for a bridge.”

Avinash N, 39, Badlapur resident, said, “A handful of commuters started the protest. Soon, others joined in, turning it into a full-fledged agitation.”

“Friday was the eighth delay in less than two months. As protesters refused to budge, I took leave from office,” said another commuter Suby Rana.

Some started to pelt stones. “The seniors in office don’t take the CR delays into account. They mark us absent and we lose our money,” said another angry commuter.