27 October,2026 07:40 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus teems with frustrated passengers on Monday evening. Pic/Ashish Raje
Ritika Gondhalekar, Abhitash Singh, Samruddhi Trivedi, and Madhulika Ram Kavattur
Tens of thousands of office-goers and students were left stranded for hours on Monday after multiple signalling failures wreaked havoc on the Central Railway's (CR) mainline. While services gradually limped back to life late in the evening, a crucial question now looms large that is how prepared is Mumbai if the same crisis repeats tomorrow?
[popcorn number="9.30 am" desc="Approximate time chaos was unleashed" class="Default"]
Commuters walk along the tracks between Mulund and Nahur after train services came to a halt on Monday. Pic/Jagdeep Trivedi
According to a member of the railway maintenance team who spoke on condition of anonymity, commuters could remain vulnerable to residual delays. "A temporary patch-up has been executed on a war footing to resume operations today [Monday], but it will take at least 10 more days to fully replace all damaged signalling equipment, which only arrived today," the official revealed.
[popcorn number="Six" desc="No of lines between Bhandup and Vikhroli" class="Default"]
The chaos began around 9.30 am when a fire inside the signalling relay hut near Kanjurmarg burnt down the CTC (Centralised Traffic Control) rack housing crucial signal and telecommunication (S&T) equipment. Consequently, signals between Bhandup and Vikhroli went blank, affecting all six lines. Coupled with an earlier reported glitch between Thane and Mulund, both Up and Down slow and fast lines were paralysed.
Although suburban train services resumed in the evening, several stations, including CSMT, Dadar, Kurla, and Thane, witnessed heavy crowds and chaos as commuters scrambled to board trains to get home. At 8.30 pm, Dadar station's central line platforms were teeming with tired and frustrated passengers, with intervals between services lasting 15 to 20 minutes.
Social media also saw a surge in posts from those stuck in trains between stations, where scenes of hundreds of commuters walking on the train tracks to get to the nearest stations caught the attention of the whole city.
The magnitude of the disruption was evident across the corridor. mid-day photographer Sayyed Sameer Abedi boarded an Asangaon fast train from Matunga, only to find it took well over 30 minutes just to cross Ghatkopar. A mid-day correspondent boarded a Dombivli slow local from Kurla, and it took a gruelling 90 minutes to crawl as far as Kanjurmarg before halting completely.
Inside the coaches, patience snapped after locals stood stationary mid-section for over an hour. Commuters across age groups, from senior citizens to teenagers, began jumping down onto the ballast to trek along the tracks toward the nearest station.
Among them were students from Kirti College, Don Bosco High School, and KJ Somaiya College, walking alongside lines where trains were still intermittently passing. In one heart-stopping moment, two college students were forced to squat low on the tracks after fellow commuters yelled warnings as locals approached simultaneously on adjacent lines.
When the train finally crawled into Vikhroli, a desperate rush ensued at the platform stall for drinking water. Within minutes, the vendor's shelves emptied out completely. When this correspondent reached the counter, the stall keeper threw up his hands: "Pani khatam ho gaya."
Dr Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer, Central Railway
Stated that restoration was carried out on a war footing. He said, "Around 9.30 am, a fire broke out inside the signalling hut at Kanjurmarg, damaging the CTC rack and S&T instruments, causing signals between Bhandup and Vikhroli to go blank across all six lines. Our technical teams worked swiftly.
Commuters walk along the railway tracks towards Nahur station after train services were disrupted on the mainline of Central Railway. Pic/Jagdeep Trivedi
The Down through line and Up through line were declared fit by 4.10 pm and 4.45 pm, respectively, followed by the Down local line at 5.30 pm. Up slow services toward CSMT are also being restored. A high-level committee has been instituted to probe the exact cause of the fire. We earnestly appeal to commuters not to alight or walk on tracks, as train movements are actively resuming."
1 Signalling glitch
Location: Between Thane, Mulund, and Bhandup stations
Cause: Technical overhead line issues reported by the CR Control Room
Impact: Speed restrictions imposed on Up and Down lines, affecting all services
Status: Restrictions in place as repairs, maintenance work continue
2 Kanjurmarg signal cabin fire
Location: Relay hut near Kanjurmarg station
Cause: A fire broke out here around 9.30 am, gutting key equipment
Impact: Blanked out signals between Bhandup and Vikhroli across all six railway lines
Status: Temporary circuits restored, full hardware replacement will take around 10 days
