Here’s why your Tuesday morning train commute was a mess

Empty coach of a long-distance train derails near Lower Parel station bringing Western Railway services to a standstill for almost two hours during peak time

Suburban services on Western Railway were thrown out of gear, as a coach of a long-distance train derailed near Lower Parel station on Tuesday early morning.

No one was hurt in the incident but it disrupted suburban trains as slow line services completely stopped between Churchgate and Dadar.

A senior official said the coach of the long-distance train derailed, while it was being taken to the yard from a carshed. The derailed coach toppled on the northbound

A local train waits for the derailed coach to be shifted

slow line, blocking it completely.

The WR diverted traffic from slow to fast track but it created a block for the suburban traffic. As not a single slow train was running between Churchgate and Dadar, there was a sea of people at stations and inside the stalled trains.

Mukul Jain, the divisional railway manager of WR, said rerailing of coach took a long time, as heavy-duty crane was needed for lifting the coach. “After removal of the derailed coach, traffic on slow tracks would be restored before 12pm,” he said.

The coach finally lifted and removed from the tracks

The reason behind the derailment was not known but taking cognisance of the mishap, railway minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted that WR general manager was directed to restore the traffic as early as possible.

Prabhu added that he was closely monitoring the work and assured to take necessary actions against the officers responsible for the work.