The first heavy downpour pushed CR services behind by 30 minutes, while WR services were deferred by 15-20 minutes
Afterleaving everyone guessing on when they would arrive, the monsoon finally made its presence felt in style on Wednesday night and went on through Thursday morning. Heavy rains lashed the city yesterday crippling train services across the suburbs.u00a0
Long wait: Commuters had to endure train delays as signals at various spots had stopped functioning causing disruptions. Pic/Sameer Markande
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Maximum rainfall was observed in the eastern suburbs disrupting the train services on the Central Railway (CR) delaying trains by over 30 minutes causing trouble for over 37 lakh commuters. Meanwhile, trains on the Western Railway (WR) were running late by 15 minutes or so. Confirming the delays and disruptions, a CR official said, “The trains on the Central and Harbour line were running late owing to the weather and the heavy rains. Over 150 trains had to be cancelled.”
Officials noted that there was no water logging on the tracks, but the downpour and overflow of drains at some spots had caused intermittent signal failures at Kurla, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Mankhurd, Chembur and Kurla on the Harbour line. When MiD DAY spoke to some of the commuters, they complained that the trains were crawling.
Signal failure
Sources said that the signalling system had tripped owing to overflowing drains between Ghatkopar and Kurla stretches. “We ensured that the crossover were clamped for safe running of trains and that it ran in a straight direction,” said a senior CR official adding that by 3.45 pm all signals had begun functioning properly.
WR woes
On the other hand, trains running between Churchgate to Virar were also affected last morning. Complaining of the disruption in services, Santosh Nair, a regular commuter, said, “The train I took at 8.10 am from Borivli reached Churchgate only at 10 am. It was halting at different spots along the way.”
The services were running late by around 15-20 minutes during the morning hours, which gradually improved as the day passed by. “Hardly four or five trains were cancelled as special services were being run. The situation improved by 11.30 am,” said Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR.u00a0
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