Officials are not maintaining tracks, say commuters

Small fractures on the track have been delaying train services quite frequently on the Central Railway (CR) for the past few days. In the last couple of days, the train services were hit twice by rail fractures on the Harbour line and the Main line.

Small fractures on the track have been delaying train services quite frequently on the Central Railway (CR) for the past few days. In the last couple of days, the train services were hit twice by rail fractures on the Harbour line and the Main line.

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Officials said that since April, there have been around four incidents of rail fracture. They are quick to add, however, that the chances of trains getting derailed are slim because the tracks are attached to circuit breakers and in case of a rail fracture, the signal automatically turns red and the train has to halt.

“These rail fractures are minor incidents and it only affects services. In fact the number of rail fractures this year is lesser when compared to previous year,” said V Malegaonkar, chief PRO, Central Railway.

The fractures are, however, inconveniencing the commuters. They are forced to walk on the tracks or wait at platforms for services to begin. Commuters question the quality of maintenance work carried out during the mega blocks every weekend.

“It is quite possible that these tracks are not able to take the load of the many train services because of inadequate maintenance,” said Subhash Gupta, member, National Rail Users Consultative Committee (NRUCC). The CR runs 1,573 suburban services everyday.

The commuter associations also blame authorities for not replacing the old rails on time, apart from inadequate usage of ultrasonic frequency machines that check the track conditions. “There is a need for increasing the use of these machines to detect faults in tracks,” said a senior railway official.

Some officials’ blame the new-age trains for rail fractures, because they believe that the wheels of these trains jam leading to the fractures.