The railways were spared until Tuesday evening from the heavy downpour though there were delays in train running. On the Central and Western Railways, the trains were delayed by 7-10 mins. Interestingly until now, the engineering improvement works carried out on rail lines by both the railways have kept the system alive despite heavy rains.
The Western Railway, for instance, has upgraded its infrastructure at a few locations that were prone to water logging. Areas like Mahim, Grant Road, Bandra and Vasai-Virar belt have undergone substantial improvements. Sources in WR said that they created additional culverts, connected drainage with the Mithi River and used micro tunnelling for creating large gutters that pass below rail lines and expel rainwater from the railway system.
"At Mahim, we have created three culverts below the rail lines which are carrying water into the drainage system outside. We have also placed high-powered pumping machines at vital locations," said a WR official.
Sources said that on July 5, there were minor delays of 5-10 minutes on the WR though there was no water logging. Other stations like Grant Road also saw some works carried out in the previous months that enabled them to run services without many hiccups.
Meanwhile, the Central Railway too didn't see any water logging on tracks. Despite the heavy rains, the trains ran though with albeit delays. Senior officials from CR said that there was alight water logging at Sion and Mankhurd though it didn't last long as the rains weren't intermittent.
"It rained heavily however there has not been waterlogging on tracks. We carried out improvement works on rail lines and placed high-powered pumps," said a CR official. On Tuesday, the CR ran trains with delays of 12-15 minutes.
