Mumbai local trains face overcrowding, delays after signalling system snag hits main line

Commuters said the suburban services were delayed by 20 to 30 minutes and led to overcrowding on trains and stations during the rush hours.

Mumbai's local trains, known for overcrowded coaches, faced even more rush and delays on June 13 after technical faults near Vikhroli station affected the suburban train services on the main line of the network.

The incident happened early in the morning, causing overcrowding at several stations and hardships to commuters during the rush hours.

According to the Railway officials, the technical snag took place in the  signalling system on the UP (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-bound) fast line around 7 am in the morning, because of which some local trains were held up for about an hour.

"Due to some technical faults at UP through line near Vikhroli station local trains are held up hence some locals are running behind schedule time," Rajneesh Goyal, divisional railway manager of Central Railway's Mumbai division wrote of X.

Later on, he added that the technical glitch was rectified at 8.05 am.

Commuters said the suburban services were delayed by 20 to 30 minutes and led to overcrowding on trains and stations during the rush hours.

As the CSMT-bound fast trains were held up one after the other for a long time, several commuters were seen jumping on the tracks and walking to the next station to reach the office using an alternative mode of transport.

Due to some Technical Faults at up through line near Vikroli Station Local train are held up hence some locals are running behind Schedule time.

We are continuously working on it to resolve the same as early as possible. Inconvenience is highly regretted.

Story continues below Advertisement

Remove Ad

— DRM Mumbai CR (@drmmumbaicr) June 13, 2024

The disruption of suburban services left commuters fuming.

"Central Railway trains are always punctual - if you consider being at least 20 minutes late every day as on time. And don't expect any announcements about platform changes or cancellations; they like to keep things exciting!" Mandar Abhyankar, a commuter, wrote on Facebook.

Another commuted expressed anger towards the mismanagement of the suburban railway network.  The user said, "Worst local train management by existing DRM and GM. No action is taking by our rail minister @AshwiniVaishnaw . Hope in his new tenure he'll start the work soon and take some action against DRM and GM. Also DRM sir pls tell the last date when 8:33 am Kalyan fast local ran on time."

The Central Railway operates over 1,800 suburban services on its suburban network spread across Raigad and Thane districts outside Mumbai every day. More than 30 lakh commuters travel on its suburban network.

With inputs from PTI