Long-distance passenger trains arriving and departing from the city were affected on Monday due to two separate incidents in Palghar and the ghat section between Karjat and Lonavala. Several intercity trains from Mumbai to Pune and Surat had to be cancelled.
At 4.10 a.m., nearly 15 wagons of a freight train derailed in the ghat section between Karjat and Lonvala. The Down line (towards Pune) and the Middle line were shut for over two hours. At 6.25 a.m., the Middle line was restored, and several trains passed through it with speed restrictions.
Nine intercity trains between Mumbai and Pune, including Indrayani Express, Deccan Express, Intercity Express, Pragati Express, Deccan Queen Express, and Koyna Express were cancelled. Six other services were short-terminated, while eight trains were diverted via Manmad.
Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, Central Railway (CR), said they have sought help from the State government to run extra buses between the two cities to mitigate the damage. Railway officials said until the Down line is cleared, passenger trains heading in the direction of Pune will run with delays. On Tuesday, the CR will cancel five trains, including three Mumbai-Pune trains: Pragati Express, Indrayani Express and Deccan Express.
In the second incident, there was a track circuit failure on all lines around 4.25 a.m.. due to waterlogging at Palghar station.
Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer, Western Railway (WR), said they managed a temporary fix within 20 minutes and services were restarted at a speed of 10 km per hour.
Mr. Bhakar said between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., Palghar received 100 mm rainfall, which led to the flooding. “The water level started receding around 7 a.m., and we managed to remove all speed restrictions around 9.30 a.m.. In view of cancellations of trains, we provided additional halts for the passengers at stations in those areas,” he said.
The WR cancelled 14 trains, short-terminated 15 trains, and rescheduled 10 trains, including August Kranti Rajdhani Express that departed one hour late.
