In 17 hrs, 2 trains derail in Mumbai

Lakhs of commuters had a tough time on Tuesday as seven coaches of a local train derailed between Andheri and Vile Parle stations, paralysing services of the Western Railways.

Around 11 am, the coaches of the Virar-Churchgate fast local train derailed after it moved out of the Andheri station. Some commuters jumped out as the train shook, making a noise and came to a screeching halt.

This is the second derailment in 17 hours. On Monday evening, two coaches of a train on the Harbour line derailed between Masjid Bunder and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The train was coming from Bandra. 

Four commuters sustained injuries and were admitted to hospitals, where they are being treated and would be discharged soon.

The incident happened on “Up fast line”, but since the compartments came off the tracks, it affected the movement on the “Down fast line”. The slow Up and Down lines were also slowed down and resulted in bunching of trains.

The accident had a cascading affect as the Central Railway services of Harbour line between Andheri and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus slowed down because of movement of men and material to the accident spot. Besides, there was tremendous traffic jam on the Western Express Highway, one of the arterial roads of the commercial capital and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, which connects the far western suburbs like Vasai and Virar.

Restoration of services was going on and may continue overnight. The services are expected to be fully restored by Wednesday morning.

The traffic disruption came just two days ahead of the 10-day-long Ganesh festival, which commences on Thursday. On the eve of  the festival, Mumbaikars visit markets in Dadar, Lalbaug, Masjid Bunder, Girgaum and other places.

“All departments are here…we are not aware of the exact causes…there are some hit marks, we are checking for hanging objects,” said Divisional Railway Manager Shailendra Singh.

Passengers, however, had a harrowing experience. “I took a train from Dadar at 1 pm to return to my home at Vasai. It took me three-and-a-half hours,” said Shaibal Gupta, a space seller.

“Trains were crowded and it was really tough to be in them. It was halting in all stations and in between stations,” added Debasish Mandal, another resident of far western suburbs.