Boulders fall on track, hold up Mumbai-Pune train services

Patrolman Motiram Lobhi

Services on the Mumbai-Pune railway were disrupted from late Thursday as heavy rain led to boulders and muck falling on the tracks at the Nagnath-Palasdhari part of the Lonavala-Karjat Ghat section.

The incident took place around midnight and services were restored at 8.15 am on Friday. The incident came to light thanks to an on-duty patrolman. "Motiram Lobhi detected the boulders and immediately protected the track. He stopped one banker (Loco), which was in the section, by showing a red signal," said Shivaji Sutar, chief PRO, CR.

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"He then informed higher officials of the incident. A boulder train carrying equipment like stone breakers, safety equipment was ordered for restoration. During the work, mail express trains were diverted on the middle line, which was also used by the UP trains," he added. Sutar said, "The boulders were huge. They had to be split before removal. After the work, UP line traffic restarted at 8.15 am. All the three lines are now working."

"Due to availability of only two lines as against three lines, trains arriving at Mumbai from Pune as well as 8 to 10 trains going to Pune were delayed by 30 minutes to 1 hour during the period of the work," he added.