Mumbai: Central Railway disruption leaves thousands stranded as signalling failures hit local trains

Ritika Gondhalekar Abhitash Singh Samruddhi Trivedi and Madhulika Ram KavatturTens of thousands of officegoers and students were left stranded for hours on Monday after multiple signalling failures wreaked havoc on the Central Railwayrsquos 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 tomorrowpopcorn number930 am descApproximate time chaos was unleashed classDefaultCommuters walk along the tracks between Mulund and Nahur after train services came to a halt on Monday PicJagdeep TrivediAccording to a member of the railway maintenance team who spoke on condition of anonymity commuters could remain vulnerable to residual delays ldquoA temporary patchup 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 todayrdquo the official revealedpopcorn numberSix descNo of lines between Bhandup and Vikhroli classDefaultThe chaos began around 930 am when a fire inside the signalling relay hut near Kanjurmarg burnt down the CTC Centralised Traffic Control rack housing crucial signal and telecommunication SampT 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 paralysedLater in the dayAlthough 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 830 pm Dadar stationrsquos central line platforms were teeming with tired and frustrated passengers with intervals between services lasting 15 to 20 minutesSocial 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 cityWhat reporter witnessedThe magnitude of the disruption was evident across the corridor midday 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 midday correspondent boarded a Dombivli slow local from Kurla and it took a gruelling 90 minutes to crawl as far as Kanjurmarg before halting completelyInside the coaches patience snapped after locals stood stationary midsection 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 stationAmong 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 heartstopping moment two college students were forced to squat low on the tracks after fellow commuters yelled warnings as locals approached simultaneously on adjacent linesWhen the train finally crawled into Vikhroli a desperate rush ensued at the platform stall for drinking water Within minutes the vendorrsquos shelves emptied out completely When this correspondent reached the counter the stall keeper threw up his hands ldquoPani khatam ho gayardquoOfficial SpeakDr Swapnil Nila chief public relations officer Central RailwayStated that restoration was carried out on a war footing He said ldquoAround 930 am a fire broke out inside the signalling hut at Kanjurmarg damaging the CTC rack and SampT instruments causing signals between Bhandup and Vikhroli to go blank across all six lines Our technical teams worked swiftlyCommuters walk along the railway tracks towards Nahur station after train services were disrupted on the mainline of Central Railway PicJagdeep TrivediThe Down through line and Up through line were declared fit by 410 pm and 445 pm respectively followed by the Down local line at 530 pm Up slow services toward CSMT are also being restored A highlevel 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 resumingrdquoWhat led to the chaos1 Signalling glitchLocation Between Thane Mulund and Bhandup stationsCause Technical overhead line issues reported by the CR Control RoomImpact Speed restrictions imposed on Up and Down lines affecting all servicesStatus Restrictions in place as repairs maintenance work continue2 Kanjurmarg signal cabin fireLocation Relay hut near Kanjurmarg stationCause A fire broke out here around 930 am gutting key equipmentImpact Blanked out signals between Bhandup and Vikhroli across all six railway linesStatus Temporary circuits restored full hardware replacement will take around 10 days