Three back-ups, zero power; WR’s triple-layer fail stalls trains, no electricity at head quarters for nearly half hour; Western Railway (WR) has launched an investigation into the incident
WR has launched an investigation into the power outage incident. File pic/Ashish Raje
How did Western Railway’s three-level backup system collapse on Tuesday morning? All signals turned red, trains halted, and power went out, crippling operations between Churchgate and Grant Road stations for nearly 30 minutes. Even the heritage headquarters building at Churchgate plunged into darkness during the outage, which began around 10.20 am.
Western Railway (WR) has launched an investigation into the incident. According to officials, all three levels of their backup system failed simultaneously, an “unprecedented” situation that paralysed both train services and administrative offices. “WR is investigating the incident. Several trains stood still as all signals turned red and had to be manually operated. The outage also affected the heritage headquarters building, where multiple WR offices are housed,” a WR official said. Power was gradually restored by 11 am.
WR’s system has a triple-layer backup with an automatic changeover mechanism designed to switch between sources in the event of a failure. “But something clearly went wrong on Tuesday,” the official added. Power suppliers in South Mumbai, however, denied any faults at their end. “BEST has no role to play in Western Railway’s power supply,” said BEST spokesperson Sudas Sawant. “All our systems remained normal.”
Tata Power issued a denial as well. “There was no abnormality or feeder tripping in our Mahalaxmi, Carnac, or Backbay networks. Our systems remained fully stable and operational,” the company said in a statement. The last time such a disruption occurred was in October 2020, when WR services halted due to multiple tripping incidents on supply lines.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
