Thane: Commuters protest against train detention; traffic hit on suburban section for 45 minutes

Pic/Satej Shinde

Traffic on the Central Railway's main line was affected for about 45 minutes on Sunday as commuters agitated at Diva in Maharashtra's Thane district adjoining Mumbai over the detention of an express train after the derailment of a goods train, an official told news agency PTI.

Four wagons of the goods train derailed on the Panvel-Kalamboli section of Palghar district on Saturday afternoon. The 12133 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Mangaluru Express was detained due to the goods train derailment ahead, Central Railway's chief public relations officer Dr Shivraj Manaspure told PTI.

Due to the detention of the express train, its passengers agitated at Diva (in Thane district) due to which the main line traffic (CSMT-Kalyan route) also got affected from 9.05 am to 9.50 am, he said.

The main line traffic got restored at 9.50 am after the agitation ended, the official told PTI.

Thane Government Railway Police's senior inspector Pandhari Kande claimed railway authorities were planning to divert the train through Pune. The passengers were opposed to it and agitated, the official told PTI.

The passengers wanted the train to move from Panvel, to which the officials agreed, the official told PTI, adding that services have been restored now.

On Saturday, A goods train derailed on Saturday afternoon in Maharashtra's Raigad district, disrupting operations on the Panvel-Vasai route, the Central Railway said.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

Central Railway Chief Public Relations Office (CPRO) Shivraj Manaspure said four wagons, including a brake van, of the freight train, headed to Vasai (in Palghar district) from Panvel (in Raigad district), derailed on the Panvel-Kalamboli section at around 3.05 pm.

After the incident, at least five passenger trains were detained at various spots on the Konkan-Mumbai route.

A common route crossover of the Up and Down route at Panvel is given fit and made available for the train movement from the derailment site.

The first Up train 12617 Ernakulam-Nizamuddin Express departed from Panvel at 7.37 PM.

At least half a dozen trains have been diverted and several other trains delayed due to the derailment of the goods train.

However, Navi Mumbai suburban services between the Panvel-CSMT section were unaffected as the incident occurred on the Panvel-Kalamboli railway line, which further leads to Mumbai and Vasai.

Notably, Railway authorities have planned a 38-hour mega block between Panvel and Belapur stations of Harbour and Trans-Harbour corridors beginning Saturday night for laying two new lines under the Dedicated Freight Corridor.

(With inputs from PTI)