The diesel locomotive bringing the train from Matheran to Neral derailed at about 5:45 pm. There were no injuries.
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As the Central Railway has begun to regularise services of the Neral Matheran train, a derailment on Sunday dampened the spirits of holidaymakers. The diesel locomotive bringing the train from Matheran to Neral derailed at about 5:45 pm. There were no injuries. A few passengers took refunds though.
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Senior public relations officer AK Jain confirmed the incident and said, "It was not a big incident. One wheel of the diesel locomotive derailed near Neral station and 70 passengers in the second class and 15 in the first class took refunds though there were no injuries. The train was on its way from Matheran to Neral station."
Central Railway has been continuously upgrading the tracks and trains on the line. It was just on Saturday that the railways added an air-conditioned train coach to the train, making it more popular.
The 1907-opened railway line is already in the tentative UNESCO world heritage list and once it opens, trains will run at a speed of 13kmph. The railways have put up gabion walls and also upgraded old locomotives with digitised controls and double the horsepower. Earlier, the loco used to have 306HP and now the new ones are of 650 HP. These have been equipped with air brakes as compared to earlier hand-operated brakes.
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