Rail fracture disrupts Central Railway local services, hundreds walk on tracks

Commutes spill onto the track between Thane and Mulund on Friday morning. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

Central Railway services were affected in two separate incidents on Friday, inconveniencing commuters. In the morning, thousands of local users had to walk on the tracks after a crack was reported on a steel rail, leading to service disruption.

"A weld fracture was reported on the CSMT-bound slow line between Thane-Mulund at 9.25 am. It was attended by the staff and put right at 9.50 am," Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

A number of services were delayed and a few stalled and diverted due to the problem. Commuters took to tracks to change over from slow to fast line to reach their destinations.

In the late afternoon, suburban services on the Vasind-Khadavli section were hit after two pantographs of a local train got entangled with overhead wires.

Sutar said that the local train was going from Kasara to CSMT when the incident occurred. "Tower wagons have been moved for restoration of the train. Two express trains and one local train have been held due to the snag," he added. Traffic on this stretch was restored at 7.18 pm, he said.

Officials said they were trying to solve the problem before the evening peak hour to avoid large-scale detention or cancellation of services. The reason for the incident will be investigated, they said.

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Time in minutes in which the rail crack was fixed