27 October,2026 07:37 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Commuters help passengers climb out of the railway tracks outside Nahur station. Pic/Jagdeep Trivedi
I got into a CSMT local from Kalyan at 12.40 pm as per my usual routine. The train reached Thane station without a hitch, but suddenly stopped as it approached Mulund. There were no announcements about why it had stopped.
The train stopped for a long time there, then kept moving for 30 seconds and stopping for 20 minutes or more. The pattern kept repeating till Vikhroli. Finally, an announcement was made advising people to not exit the train mid-journey as it could be dangerous. There was still no word on what had happened. Commuters were naturally getting restless.
There was already a delay of two hours till that time. Around 3.15 pm, the train, delayed for a good three hours by now, reached Kurla station and a woman TC jumped into the first class compartment I was in. She then demanded to see everyone's tickets or passes. Commuters were upset by this, but no one dared speak up.
I refused to show her my valid pass and asked her why she was checking tickets on a day like this when the entire CR machinery had collapsed causing terrible inconvenience to passengers. She told me, "I am just doing my job. I have to do my duty anyway?" I was on a train for almost three hours, frustrated by the delay and angry, so I refused to waste anymore time showing her my pass.
I told her to get off at Sion station with me if she wanted to check my pass and got off. Predictably, she did not follow me. I am furious that the CR authorities displayed zero empathy when the fault was entirely theirs. Sending a TC into a train that had been delayed for hours was completely uncalled for.
Rohan Koli, sports journalist, mid-day
"There was too much chaos at the station on my way to the office, as there were no trains at Dombivli for a long time. Thankfully, a special slow train arrived at around 2.50 pm. However, the train was moving very slowly. In fact, it halted just before Bhandup station for almost 25 minutes, delaying my journey to Sion station by almost an hour. Commuters who had been standing inside the jam-packed train for hours faced a lot of difficulty. I also witnessed people walking along the railway tracks towards Thane at around 4 pm."
Shivdinesh Sharma, a regular CSMT-Ghatkopar commuter
"Commuting from Kurla to Ghatkopar today was a Herculean task. I waited on the platform for over 35 minutes with no train in sight. Finally, I stepped out and took an auto-rickshaw from Kurla. The driver charged an exorbitant '250, openly taking advantage of stranded rail passengers."
Rahul Yadav, who was travelling toward Kalyan from Kanjurmarg
"I had an urgent business meeting lined up for 4 pm, but because of the signalling failure, I was completely marooned and could not make it."
Sashant Nair, another regular commuter on CR line
"Whenever such technical snags or cable fires hit the signalling system, the ripple effects completely overwhelm road transport and secondary transit. If full replacement hardware takes days to integrate, CR must operate with strict contingency monitoring to ensure tomorrow's morning peak hour doesn't collapse into similar chaos."
