17 September,2018 08:25 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B Aklekar
A wagon was undergoing maintenance on the main line between Vikhroli and Ghatkopar, adding to the delay
The Central Railway's grand promise of ending the mega block an hour earlier for Ganpati on Sunday turned out to be just words as services remained suspended till the usual time of 4.10 pm.
According to the initial announcement, the block on the Mulund-Matunga main line and CSMT-bound line was supposed to be from 11.10 am to 4.10 pm and between Vashi and Panvel from 11.30 am to 4.30 pm. However, even after the railways' announcement of cutting down the block time by an hour, the situation on the ground remained the same.
As this mid-day reporter travelled along the route, he spotted the Mahadev and Neelkanth wagons undergoing maintenance work on the main line between Vikhroli and Ghatkopar. They were removed from the tracks only around 3.56 pm. Hence, the block effectively ended at 4 pm, after which some time went into getting the services back on track.
Even as commuters were spotted waiting at the Kurla station around 4 pm, the railways announced the unavailability of slow trains on the line due to the block. Senior railway officials are of the opinion that as it takes time to channelise the movement of trains after the block, a slight delay happens sometimes.
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When contacted, Chief Public Relations Officer Sunil Udasi, said, "There were no delays. The block got over by 3.30 pm. Only one train that originates at Kurla got delayed. All the other trains were running as per schedule."
Aniket Deshpande, a commuter at Vikhroli, said, "Did they forget about the ongoing festival in the city? It suddenly occurred to them on Sunday that the block time should be cut down. What is the point of doing all this? They neither complete maintenance on time, nor allow passengers to travel according to their plans."
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