A derailment incident involving five wagons of a goods train near Panvel on Saturday led to significant disruption and passenger agitation at Diva station on Sunday. The incident affected traffic on the Central Railway's main line for approximately 45 minutes, causing delays for several trains, including those on the crucial CSMT-Kalyan route.
The derailment occurred on the Panvel-Kalamboli section of Palghar district on, with five wagons including a brake van derailing on Saturday afternoon. Following this incident, the railway authorities made the decision to divert the CSMT - Mangaluru Express through an alternate route via Kalyan Pune to avoid further delays due to ongoing restoration work at Panvel.
However, this diversion sparked outrage among passengers of the CSMT - Mangaluru Express, who blocked the railway tracks in protest at Diva station. Railway officials attempted to explain the necessity of the diversion, but passengers were adamant about sticking to the original route.
"Tensions escalated, and the CSMT - Mangaluru Express eventually departed from Diva station around 9.50 am, resuming its journey via Panvel. This incident disrupted mainline train services on the CSMT-Kalyan route for nearly an hour" said an official.
A senior railway officials confirmed that the detention of the express train was a result of the goods train derailment ahead. The agitation at Diva station further exacerbated the situation, affecting mainline traffic between 9.05 am and 9.50 am.
A Government Railway Police officials also stated that railway authorities had initially planned to divert the train through Pune, a decision that passengers strongly opposed. After the Panvel track was cleared, officials eventually agreed to allow the train to continue its journey via Panvel, restoring rail traffic at Diva.
