Signal failure at Vidyavihar hits train services

Central Railway (CR) services were affected for nearly an hour on Tuesday night after the signal system at Vidyavihar failed when a track-shifting machine accidentally damaged it.

Central Railway (CR) services were affected for nearly an hour on Tuesday night after the signal system at Vidyavihar failed when a track-shifting machine accidentally damaged it.

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The problem occurred while the remodelling of tracks on the fifth and sixth lines of the

Thane-Kurla section was being carried out.

The incident occurred around 9.55pm and affected services between Kurla and Ghatkopar until 10.50pm.

The technical glitch had a cascading affect on other services as well; trains starting from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Thane were running late. The problem occurred while work on connecting the fifth and sixth lines with those lines that allow freight and goods trains to enter and exit the yard was being undertaken. The tracks were being shifted in order to align them with the new lines being laid.

“We were to complete work inside the yard by Wednesday morning. But during the course of work the machine damaged the signal system,” said a senior CR official on condition of anonymity.

Railway authorities reached the spot within minutes but struggled to correct the damage. As trains halted between stations, many commuters jumped off trains and began walking on the tracks. “Even I decided to jump out of the coach when I saw many people walking on the tracks,” said Sushant Kumar, who headed towards Kurla in the dark.

Meanwhile, CR authorities have been struggling to cope with signal failures that have been recurring in the last few days due to various reasons such as the theft of wires or burning of debris near signals.