Mumbai: Technical glitch throws WR services out of gear

Hundreds of Western Railway (WR) commuters were hassled on Monday, as more than 10 services were cancelled and several others delayed owing to a technical glitch near Mahalaxmi station.

Hundreds of Western Railway (WR) commuters were hassled on Monday, as more than 10 services were cancelled and several others delayed owing to a technical glitch near Mahalaxmi station.

According to a spokesperson of the WR, the disruption was a result of track failure, which happened because someone cut the signal cable. “The problem was fixed within 20-30 minutes and the services were restored at 4.58pm,” said Gajanan Mahatpurkar, public relations officer, WR.

The incident led to bunching of trains and also delayed the suburban services by at least 20-30 minutes. “It took me 35 minutes to reach the Elphinstone Road station from Matunga Road,” said Prashant Wadekar, a Borivli resident, adding several commuters had to walk along the tracks.

According to railway officials, the trains were running on ‘A’ marker, in which every train has to stop a few minutes before passing the red signal, according to the procedure. This led to bunching of trains, said officials.

Meanwhile, some commuters travelled on the main and harbour line of the Central Railway to avoid trouble.