Mumbaikars battled traffic snarls and train delays as heavy rain lashed the city on Monday. While services on the Central Railway (CR) and the Western Railway (WR) were affected, there were traffic pileups on nearly every major road.
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Trains on the Central Line were running over two hours late. Fast services (Up fast) towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus were held up around 9 a.m. because the section between Kurla and Sion was severely waterlogged. While the fast corridor to Kalyan (Down fast) and the slow line were operational, locals were running with speed restrictions due to flooding.
“Due to the low visibility and the diversion of Up fast services on the slow line, trains were running cautiously, leading to bunching of trains. This had a cascading effect on the services,” Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, CR, said.
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Crowds increased at stations leading to a stampede-like situation at some of them. Bhavesh Tawde, a regular commuter from Dombivli, said there were no trains for nearly 40 minutes around 10 a.m. “When trains finally arrived, they were so packed that there was no way to enter them. All platforms at Dombivli were packed and people were literally standing on the staircases of the foot overbridges.” Mr. Tawde decided to go home after waiting for nearly two hours.
He said his wife who had somehow managed to get into a train at 9.10 a.m. reached Dadar only after noon. Several commuters took to social media to vent their anger with similar stories of crowded platforms at major stations such as Thane, Dombivli, Kalyan and Ghatkopar, and trains that were over two hours late.
“All lines on the Central Line were operational after 10.45 a.m.. However, due to bunching of trains, the locals were gradually cleared,” Mr. Udasi said. Peak hours services in the evening were around five minutes late. In all, around 52 locals on the Central Line and 33 locals on the Harbour Line were cancelled.
Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer, WR, said there was no waterlogging on the suburban section of the WR and there were no major disruptions. “Our pre-monsoon efforts, which included an aerial survey using drones, showed results on Monday.”
Services on the WR’s suburban section were thrown out of gear in the morning after a protective netting tied to the scaffolding of an under-repair building at Marine Lines stations fell on the overhead wires, blowing the fuse. The incident occurred around 8 a.m. on the slow line, which was made operational only by 11 a.m. In the intermittent period, several slow trains were terminated at Mumbai Central or redirected on the fast corridor. As a result, slow locals were over 45 minutes late through the morning. Around 100 suburban services on the WR were cancelled.
Traffic on key arterial roads such as Western Express Highway (WEH), Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, S.V. Road, and LBS Marg, was crawling with motorists stuck for hours.
Dattarao Borade, who has been driving an autorickshaw for over a decade, said the traffic is worsening with each monsoon. “It took me nearly three hours to go from Bhandup station to Hub Mall on WEH. Every road in the city is dug up. They should have ideally finished one Metro line before starting another,” he said.
Saiganesh Lingayat, who was travelling from Thane to Nallasopara, said the waterlogging in Dahisar was so severe that he had to walk across the toll naka and then take an autorickshaw to the station. “The water was 2.5-foot high. The traffic was extremely slow,” he said. The usual flooding spots in the city continued to live up to their ill reputation with vehicles, including BEST buses, being diverted at King’s Circle, Sion, Hindmata junction, S.V. Road near Bandra Talkies, and Prateeksha Nagar.
Flights were also affected, with delays of about 30 minutes. Airport officials said there were no diversions or cancellations.