Mumbai: A rail fracture between Malad and Goregaon (Virar end) at 9am threw Western Railway (WR) services out of gear for two hours. Even Churchgate-bound services were delayed by 40 minutes. Railway officials said nearly 30 services were cancelled and almost 100 delayed.
Even as WR went into damage control mode, diverting services from the slow to fast line toward Virar, the cascading effect of delay in services hit WR commuters right during peak morning hours.
An official said, “The delay toward Churchgate occurred because until these trains stuck on the line toward Virar did not arrive at their destination, they could not be sent back as Churchgate end services. So delays were unavoidable as the Mumbai suburban system is such.”
On the other hand, commuters like Shrutika Maheshwari (25) who was travelling from Andheri to Churchgate where her office is located said, “I was at the station at around 10am. I usually check social media or someone or the other informs you if something like this happens but today, I had no idea and was stuck till 10.40am for a train in which I could travel without getting suffocated.”
On Monday this week, Central Railway (CR) too saw nearly 80 per cent of harbour line services affected when three wagons of a goods train derailed near Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar (GTBN).
