CR services disrupted again after pantograph breaks

Suburban services on Central Railway (CR) were disrupted during peak hours on Tuesday evening after the pantograph of a local near Kalwa station broke.

Suburban services on Central Railway (CR) were disrupted during peak hours on Tuesday evening after the pantograph of a local near Kalwa station broke.

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While 14 trains were cancelled, several others were delayed around 4pm. It took almost two hours to restore services, causing many suburban services to run late by 15-20 minutes.

Since Saturday, services on CR have been badly hit by heavy rain, resultant water logging and technical failures.

The train with a damaged pantograph was a Badlapur-bound slow local which started from Thane. Many commuters stuck in the three trains behind it were even forced to walk on the tracks.

“Our train was stuck between Kalwa and Thane for more than one-and-a-half hours. Finally, I got down and walked on the tracks to reach Thane station,” said Sucheta Bagade, a resident of Dombivli.

CR officials, however, claimed it had diverted all slow-line services to fast tracks. “All slow-line services towards Kalyan were diverted to the fast line between Mulund and Diva from 4.25pm to 5.55pm,” said AK Singh, public relations officer, CR.

Another senior official from CR said since it wasn’t possible for them to send a locomotive to remove the local, it was taken to Kalwa car-shed with the help of another local.