Expect more troubles on Central Railway when rains hit Mumbai

Officials in Central Railway are dealing with a catch22 situation Inspections of the overhead lines and power systems have begun to take ahead the conversion of the power supply on the CSTThane stretch to 25000volt alternating current AC from 1500volt direct current DCThe inspections to check the work done for upgradation of power to 25000volt AC will continue during this entire week PicShadab KhanWhile this upgradation is being done to improve services the inspections will prevent the routine maintenance work from taking place thereby increasing the chances of technical breakdowns when the monsoon arrivesAs the clock struck1245 am on May 25 CR authorities and Chetan Bakshi the Commissioner of Railway Safety CRS from the Ministry of Civil Aviation began their inspection between CST and Thane This is required before approving power upgradation from 1500volt DC to 25000volt ACSince the night of May 24 authorities and the CRS have been taking rounds of railway lines to check the work done for this conversion However due to this ongoing scrutiny that is expected to last the whole week the authorities will not be able to carry out maintenance work over the next few daysThis may result in problems of maintenance of tracks overhead wires signals and other onfield infrastructure As part of the maintenance work the gang men the railwayrsquos foot soldiers in orange and khaki inspect every piece of equipment possible between stations and ensure it is in running condition for the lakhs who use it every dayNormally a buffer of seven days is required for maintenance at the same location but this daily maintenance increases prior to the monsoon Even work on cleaning of nullahs wherever pending removing garbage and muck is carried out during this timeIn case these jobs are not done the chances of technical failures increase especially when the rains hit the city ldquoWe wonrsquot be able to carry out our daily maintenance works at night But the inspections are also importantrdquo said Amitabh Ojha divisional railway manager Mumbai CRPower playIn the wee hours of May 25 the inspection was on between CST and Byculla The next morning between 1245 am and 445 am it went on between Byculla and Thane on the slow lines On that afternoon a similar inspection was carried out at substations which house the transformers supplying power to the overhead linesThis went on for more than three hours The CR wants to complete the power conversion before monsoon as they will get buffer time to address the teething issues they might encounter once the new power supply is in place A trial run on the new power line was already conducted a few months agoSources said there is friction between the CRS and the CR authorities as despite the initial trial run it is taking time for getting all the required clearances Moreover the CRS has also highlighted the issues of height below the road over bridges ROBs which needs to be more than 427 metres from the tracks and the creation of a neutral section to ease the power supply to trains