Signal failure hits CR services

Services on Central Railway (CR) near Kalyan have continuously been disrupted after 10 pm because of technical problems.

Services on Central Railway (CR) near Kalyan have continuously been disrupted after 10 pm because of technical problems. The last disruption that occurred was on April 4 around 11.15pm between Kalyan and Dombivli because of a signal failure. The problem was rectified by 11.40pm. Train services, especially those running on the fast corridor towards Kalyan, took a hit.

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“It took me 40 minutes to make the journey from Dombivli to Kalyan, which normally does not take more than nine minutes,” said Priyanka Shah, a daily commuter travelling to Ulhasnagar. CR sources said services were running late by nearly 30 minutes although no trains were cancelled.

However, authorities claim that it was a small problem. “It was not a big problem and services were fine the next day (on Tuesday),” said AK Singh, PRO, CR.

When a signal fails, it turns red and remains the same colour until the fault is repaired. Railway authorities run the trains manually at a restricted speed on the affected stretch.

“There is a lot of work going on near Kalyan which includes the conversion from 1,500-volt DC to 25,000-volt AC, repairing signals and cables,” said a CR official on condition of anonymity. Sources added that the DC-AC conversion work on the Kalyan-Diva stretch is causing a fluctuation in power supply.