OHE breakdown near Mumbai: Gujarat-bound trains held up for 12 hours

File Photo/PTI

All Gujarat-bound trains on the Western Railway route were held up for nearly 12 hours due to an overhead equipment "breakdown" near Dahanu station in Maharashtra's Palghar district adjoining Mumbai, officials said on Wednesday.

Dahanu is located about 125 km from Mumbai. A train journey between Mumbai and Ahmedabad generally takes about eight hours.

Quoting Western Railway's chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur, PTI reported that there was an OHE breakdown at Dahanu Road station at 11 pm on Wednesday.

The UP (Mumbai-bound) line cleared after midnight at around 12.15 am, while the DOWN (Gujarat-bound) line was restored at 10.25 am on Wednesday, he said.

After the restoration of the train movement, a speed restriction of 60 kmph has been imposed in the section where the OHE breakdown occurred, the official said.

The trains are given halts at all the stations in the Virar-Surat section, he said.

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"There is no affect of this on the suburban trains between Churchgate (in south Mumbai) and Virar (Palghar)," Thakur said.

Another Western Railway official said all the trains that departed from Mumbai late Tuesday night were stuck due to the incident which happened between Vangaon and Dahanu stations.

"Due to the OHE breakdown between Dahanu Road and Vangaon Stations, various Down-direction trains have been delayed. Help Desks have been placed at various stations to assist passengers. The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," Western Railway's Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) informed on X nearly three hours after the incident.

Meanwhile, to mitigate the problem faced by commuters, Western Railway is trying its best to restore a few local train services which were announced as cancelled. In order to provide respite and for the convenience of passengers, 68 train services were restored on Monday, reducing the total number of cancellations from the 316 originally announced to only 248," said Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer, WR.

According to Thakur, on Tuesday (October 31), 83 trains will be restored, with only 233 cancellations as against the 316 cancellations that were announced. "WR is on a mission to fast-track the work of 6th line between Khar and Goregaon," he said.