Mumbai's suburban rail network faced a difficult Monday as three point failures on Western Railway (WR) disrupted services at Vasai Road, Dadar and Goregaon, while a separate incident involving a piece of construction material falling on the overhead equipment (OHE) at Mulund affected Central Railway (CR) services. WR cancelled around 45 local train trips during the day, while CR said three trains were delayed after services on the slow line were stopped for 24 minutes at Mulund. The disruptions during peak hours led to overcrowding at stations and, in at least one case, commuters getting off and walking along the tracks.
Commuters Face Delays During Office Hours
The first WR failure was reported at 4.46 am near Vasai Road, where a point on the fast corridor towards Diva developed a fault. Railway staff attended the location and carried out clamping work, with the line restored by 6 am. The disruption returned during the late-morning peak when points on both Up and Down fast lines at Dadar failed at 10.10 am. The point was not moving from reverse to normal position, resulting in bunching of local trains. The problem was rectified at 11.25 am. Around the same time, a point failure was reported at Goregaon at 10.22 am, and the problem was restored by 10.32 am. Although the individual faults were rectified relatively quickly, their combined impact continued through the day, with Up slow locals running around 30 minutes late in the afternoon.
The disruptions left commuters frustrated, particularly those travelling during office hours. "The train was stuck near Dadar for around 30 minutes. I even stepped onto the tracks, and just as I did, the train started moving. I had to sprint back into the train, but I still reached nearly an hour late. The delay added around 1.5 hours to my workday and completely ruined my morning," said commuter Pratik Juvekar. Another commuter, Keval Magiya, questioned who was responsible for the repeated delays, saying, "Who is responsible for the delays on the Mumbai Central line today? The train is running late again."
Mulund OHE Incident Disrupts Central Railway
On Central Railway, the disruption was shorter but triggered panic among passengers at Mulund. Around 11.53 am, a piece of wire fell on the OHE while work to dismantle an old foot overbridge was underway at the station. The contact caused a loud spark, with passengers reporting flashes and smoke. As a precaution, train movement on the Kalyan-bound slow line was stopped. Railway technical staff reached the spot, removed the construction material and inspected the OHE. Services resumed at 12.17 pm, after about 24 minutes. According to railway officials, three local trains were delayed by 20, 14 and eight minutes respectively, with no cancellations.
The old FOB was being dismantled as part of work being undertaken through the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC). Questions have been raised over safety arrangements at the construction site after the material reached the OHE. MRVC CPRO Sunil Udasi said, "We will look into the matter and ascertain the facts."
The two incidents once again highlight how technical failures and safety lapses during infrastructure work can quickly affect Mumbai's suburban network, where even short disruptions during peak hours can result in cascading delays and overcrowding.
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