Train derails, CR slows down for the entire day

It took almost an entire day for Central Railway (CR) services to normalise after a three coaches of a new age Karjat-bound train derailed near Thane station early on Thursday morning.

It took almost an entire day for Central Railway (CR) services to normalise after a three coaches of a new age Karjat-bound train derailed near Thane station early on Thursday morning.

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Though CR officials claimed that the derailed train was put back on track and services restored within six hours, in reality it took more than nine hours to normalise services.

Commuters waited impatiently on stations as more than 36 trains were cancelled during morning peak hours and hundreds of services delayed. And even after 1.30 pm, trains continued to run behind schedule.

CR chief spokesperson SC Mudgerikar said: “At 4.45 am, three coaches (6th, 7th, 10th from Kalyan-end) of an empty 12-car suburban train derailed at Thane while starting from the yard to run as a Thane-Karjat local. It seems the train got derailed due to a problem in the crossover (where two tracks meet).”

This is the fourth major derailment on the Central line in the last two months.

“There was no Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-bound train in the morning. We had to stand at the station for more than one hour. The 10.26 am train came at 12.45 pm and it was too crowded to get in. The next train came after half an hour,” said Thane resident Jayshri Kamath (52), who was waiting at Thane station for two hours.

Railway officials justified that there was no way to isolate the track on which the train had derailed, as it would block the movement of Kalyan-bound trains subsequently affecting the entire network.

The incident has thrown a question mark over the administration’s repeated assurances that they will get their act together as derailments and breakdowns have become a common feature on the Central line.

CR’s divisional safety officers will conduct an inquiry into the incident.

“A similar incident had occurred at CST when two local trains had derailed at the same spot on a crossover within a span of 36 hours. The administration had assured that it will check all crossovers. But officials seems to be making empty promises like politicians,” said Rajiv Gupta, a member of Mumbai Pravasi Sangh, a commuters’ body.

Why it took long to normalise services

The derailment took place at a crucial spot trapping three other spare 12-car trains behind it. It also blocked the slow Kalyan-bound track.

Subsequently all trains were diverted on the fast track.

To divert these trains, CR had to block the movement of CST-bound trains, leading to bunching of services one behind other.
As there were a number of cancellations to ease this bunching, services got further affected till late afternoon.

Trials to understand why trains derail
The CR has decided to get crack the mystery behind train derailments at crossovers. It plans to run empty trains over crossovers and video graph the trials with wheel movement details to get precise information of what actually happens that makes trains derail at these points.

“We shall take readings and find out precise details of what needs to be done to stop this problem,” said a senior CR official, requesting anonymity for lack of authorisation to speak to the media.

(Inputs from Shashank Rao)