Derailments throw Central Rly services off track

MUMBAI, March 26: Derailment of the engine of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus bound Madgaon Express at Chinchpokli this morning threw peak hour traffic out of gear. Suburban services on the Central Railway’s main line were delayed by more than two hours. Railway authorities claim that no one was injured in the incident.

At around 6.40 am, the Madgaon Express’s engine slipped off the rails near Chinchpokli station, breaking the signal points of the up and down tracks. The engine was removed and signals set right by 8.30 am. However, the accident led to the closure of both the up and down fast tracks for over an hour. Trains running on the fast tracks towards CST were diverted to the slow track at Matunga, delaying slow trains as well. Even evening peak hour traffic was affected, with trains running late by 15-20 minutes. Long distance trains like the Hussain Sagar Express and Mahalakshmi Express were delayed by over two-and-a-half hours while Chennai Express, Pragati Express and Panchavati Express weredelayed by an hour and a half. Most of them reached CST in the afternoon. Commuters say they were not given information regarding the derailment. “The least that they could do was to announce the reason for the delay,” remarked Sindhu T N, a Thane resident. But officials claimed that announcements were made regularly at stations during peak hours.

Another derailment near Asangaon at noon disrupted services on the Kalyan-Kasara route, leading to further frustration for the suburban commuter. Three wagons of a goods train derailed between Atgaon and Asangaon at 12.35 pm blocking both the up and down tracks on that route. Till late afternoon, the services from CST were terminated at Kalyan even as repair work was carried out at the spot. The wagons were put back on rails three hours later but they derailed again while on their way to the yard at 4.45 pm. Thus only one line was in operation till late evening, which delayed services between Kalyan and Kasara.