Commuters do ‘rail roko’ near Wadala

Mumbai: A day after the passenger associations warned of protest on rail premises, in case train services were delayed, a ruckus erupted between GTB Nagar and Wadala stations on the Harbour line after commuters came on tracks at around 10:30 am in the morning. Sources said that wrong announcement was made on the platform — the train was announced to be a Bandra-bound train but was found to be moving towards Panvel. Moreover, there was another technical trouble on the Harbour line and a rail fracture at Atgaon in the morning, adding to the trouble.

According to the sources, realising the direction of the train, the commuters pulled the chain inside the coach. The commuters had first tried to get the motorman’s attention by yelling and demanding that he stops the train.

However, when the train kept going forward, the commuters decided to take matters into their own hand. An official said, “The commuters not only stopped the train but also refused to let any other train move forward. After due apology from the railways for the mistake, people dispersed and walked back to Wadala for catching the next Bandra and Andheri bound train.”

Central Railway’s divisional railway manager S.K. Jain said, “There was no rail roko but yes, there was some confusion among commuters, we are looking into the matter.”

The Harbour line was also disturbed for a few hours before this incident as at around 8.30 am signals between Vashi and Panvel caused trains to be delayed by 20 minutes.