Central Railway's decision to keep BHEL-make trains off tracks ensured the rest of their services, though fewer in number, stayed healthy throughout the rainy day
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The Central Railway (CR) did not let the incessant showers on Tuesday night and Wednesday rain on its parade. Stung by disruptions during the August 29 deluge, CR played smart on its suburban network in Mumbai by not taking out its BHEL-make trains that are prone to getting stranded in floodwaters. This move ensured that the services, though fewer in number, remained healthy and operational throughout the day.
Also read: Mumbai Rains: Public transport keeps city on the move despite heavy downpour
Tend to get stuck
In its fleet of 122 trains, CR has about eight (five are operational at any given time) trains with electrical equipment from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and about 21 retrofitted ones. Retrofitted trains are older, Direct Current trains, with replaced electrical equipment. It is these BHEL trains which tend to get stuck even in four-inch deep water, while the regular Siemens trains can operate easily at that level.
Last time, BHEL-make trains were stranded at Sion and other low-lying areas, blocking the mainline tracks and all other trains. They had to be physically towed away to clear the tracks. This time around, CR decided not to take these trains out at all.
More reductions
"Soon after the Meteorological Department's warning on Tuesday, CR reduced the number of rakes in services during the evening peak hours – four BHEL trains on the main line and two retrofitted rakes on the harbour line. Gradually, after 8 pm, we started reducing more BHEL and retrofitted trains. All the retrofitted trains on the harbor line were stabled at the Sanpada car shed which is at a greater height than sidings," said a senior official.
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"In addition to this, all the points were clamped before 5 pm yesterday for smooth running during water logging. This ensured no points failed once the heavy rains began pounding and the trains kept running. There was continuous co-ordination with the BMC teams at water-logging prone locations like Sion, Kurla, Masjid, Chunabhatti and the Kurla Car Shed," he added.
No bunching
"Yesterday late evening and this morning, only 80 per cent of the trains were put into service to avoid bunching of trains. All of the 10 retrofitted trains were working on the Trans-Harbour line and overall, 20 per cent services were reduced due to the state government declaring a holiday," he said.
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"It was a precautionary measure. The crowd was very less since a holiday had been declared already for schools and colleges. Thus, a lesser frequency of services did not create any chaos and helped in the smooth operation of suburban services on all three CR routes," said Sunil Udasi, CR's chief spokesperson.
122
Total number of trains in Central Railway's fleet
8
Number of BHEL-make trains in CR's fleet
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