Mumbai : At least six commuters, including a woman, were injured and Mumbai’s lifeline – the suburban train services – were badly hit when seven coaches of a train derailed between Vile Parle and Andheri here on Tuesday, officials said.
It was at around 11 am, when the packed-to-capacity train from Virar bound for Churchgate on the Western Railway (WR) jumped the tracks with a thundering sound even as the motorman (driver) applied emergency brakes. According to witnesses, the motorman’s alertness to apply the emergency brakes helped avert a major tragedy.
The derailed coaches effectively choked the two (in Up and Down directions) fast tracks and threw the morning peak-hour office-bound commuter rush haywire. The train had left Virar at around 9.56 am and was jam-packed by the time it reached Andheri, where the derailment occurred.
According to officials, the train got derailed on a crossover after it departed from Andheri. The train was estimated to be going at a speed of 60 kmph and above when the seven coaches derailed. An official from WR said, “Due to the speed of
the train the first three coaches passed and the seven coaches from the fourth coach were stuck. These coaches were dragged to a certain distance before the train came to a halt.”
A WR official said a team of officials and engineers rushed to the site to restore train services. According to tentative estimates, it may take around 24 hours before complete normalcy is restored, spelling a blow to the advance shopping for the 10-day Ganeshotsav festival starting in the state from Thursday.
This is the second derailment on the Mumbai suburban sector in barely 18 hours. Late on Monday evening, three coaches of a train from Bandra derailed while entering the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, badly hitting home-bound peak-hour commuters on the Central Railway. Angry commuters demanded the resignation of the WR general manager and other officials for failing to ensure safety and security of commuters with such frequent accidents on their beat.
Mumbai : The mishap hit not only suburban train schedules but also long-distance trains from Mumbai going towards Gujarat, New Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. Officials said several long-distance trains scheduled to depart from Bandra LTT, Dadar and Mumbai Central railway stations were being rescheduled on account of delays. These included Rajdhani Express, August Kranti Rajdhani Express and Karnavati Express, among others.
Similarly, several inbound trains from destinations across the country were being terminated at Borivali, Vasai or Virar stations, and being returned from those stations. The WR suburban section suffered cancellation of a number of local train services resulting in massive crowds of commuters at all stations beween Virar and Churchgate in both directions.
The effects of the derailment spilled over to the Central Railway, Harbour Line with delays and cancellations in services, besides the two highways passing through the city and other roads as people plumped for alternate modes of transport to reach their destinations.
