Mumbai trains’ recovery on fateful day fastest in Indian history: Ex Rly manager

Mumbai trains’ recovery on fateful day fastest in Indian history: Ex Rly manager

Iram SiddiqueUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 10:34 PM IST
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Mumbai : Nine years after seven blasts in first-class compartments ripped apart the lifeline of Mumbai, Vivek Sahai — the then Additional General Manager of Western Railway —­ reminisces on the restoration process calling it the fastest in the history of Indian Railway (IR).

A normal working day on 11 July 2006 ended with the city being gripped in the clutches of terrorism. Starting from 6:15 pm there were seven consecutive bomb blasts in the local trains between Churchgate and Virar. As soon as news of the blast broke, senior railway officials rushed to the control room to take stock of the situation.

Sahai, who retired as the Chairman of Railway Board, said: “We immediately realised that the target was the fast corridor. All the blasts had occurred on the fast line in trains heading towards Virar. The slow corridor was stable so we immediately decided to start trains on it. However, we required police clearance for that.”

An emergency meeting was called by then CM of Maharashtra Vilas Rao Deshmukh with the Chief Secretary, Commissioner of Mumbai Police AN Roy and DGP. Top brass of Maharashtra government was mulling over declaring the next day as a public holiday considering that the train operations will not be possible. “We assured that we will be able to run the trains provided we get clearance from Mumbai police,” said Sahai.

Roy gave clearance to railway officials at 10:15 pm and the first train from Churchgate departed at 10:30 pm. The slow line had been restored, and the mammoth task of fixing the fast corridor was in hand. The first train which departed from Churchgate was run on the slow line up to Dadar where it was then switch onto the fast line to bypass Matunga which was worst affected due to the blast.

After the train crossed Matunga on the fast line, it was then shifted onto the slow track from Bandra making it possible to operate locals. “There was a crossover at Dadar and another one at Bandra which made it possible for us to do the switchover and cut off Matunga,” explained Sahai.

The seven trains with the affected coaches were still on the tracks and the iron sheet which had been ripped apart had to be cut off to remove these coaches.

 “We needed 25 gas cutters to cut the irons sheets and railways had only six. We went to the shopkeepers in Bhendi Bazar during the night and they gave it to us for free, asking to return it once our work is done.”

The coaches were then cleared off the tracks and sent to the yard where they were replaced with new coaches. “Another thing that worked in our favour was that none of the motor coaches was affected. They were easily replaced and put in to service by 10 am the next morning,” Sahai said.

On the morning of July 12 2006, Mumbai woke up to suburban trains running as usual. “People came out in huge numbers to attend schools, colleges and officers. The city was back to normalcy,” said Sahai.

iram siddique

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