Representational Image-Central Railway suburban services— DC File

MUMBAI: Lakhs of Mumbaikars suffered severe hardship and distress on Monday after Central Railway suburban services were disrupted by an overhead wire snag between Thane and Mulund. The incident led to signal failures between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup, resulting in inordinate train delays and causing inconvenience to a large number of office-goers on the first working day of the week. Several long-distance trains were also affected by the technical snag.

The chaos also resulted in the death of a 21-year-old man, who was hit by an air-conditioned local train at Bhandup railway station while trying to cross the tracks. Preliminary information suggested that he was dragged for around 15–20 minutes after the impact.

The deceased, identified as Sahil Thite, a resident of Mulund Colony, was crossing the tracks from platform 4 towards platform 2 when the accident occurred at around 5.39 pm.

The first disruption to Mumbai’s local train services was reported at around 9.23 am, when a foreign wire was found hanging from the overhead equipment (OHE) on the down local line between Mulund and Thane stations. Railway authorities subsequently imposed an emergency power block on the Kurla-Kalyan section from 10 am to carry out restoration work.

Shortly afterwards, a signalling issue was reported between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg stations, further affecting suburban train operations on the main line. Preliminary reports suggested that the disruption may have been caused by a fire in the relay room at Kanjurmarg station. The incident caused all signals to go blank, inconveniencing commuters travelling on the busy Central Railway suburban network and prompting authorities to regulate train operations.

‘Absolute block working’ was introduced between Vikhroli and Bhandup for the down local and fast lines, and between Bhandup and Vikhroli for the up slow and fast lines. Train movements were also authorised under special authority, railway officials said.

Following the disruptions, crowds swelled at stations and inside trains. Trains remained stalled on the tracks for more than an hour at some locations. Several local services were bunched, delayed or partially cancelled between CSMT and Kalyan, Kasara and Khopoli, leading to overcrowded platforms. Several passengers subsequently got off the trains and walked along the tracks.

Central Railway CPRO Swapnil Nila said, “Restoration work on the OHE issue began at 10 am and was completed by 10.48 am. Another failure, caused by a fire at Kanjurmarg station, affected the railway’s signalling and communication systems, resulting in blank signals between Bhandup and Vikhroli.”

Nila said the down fast line was declared fit for train operations at 4.10 pm, while the up fast line was restored at 4.46 pm. The down slow line was declared fit at 5.30 pm, followed by the up slow line at 6.18 pm.

Meanwhile, Central Railway has ordered a probe into the disruption of services.


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