Central, Konkan Railway services affected due to heavy rains

Tracks near Igatpuri. Credit: Special Arrangement

A series of landslides, breaching of tracks and water-logging completely paralysed the train traffic on the Central Railway (CR) and Konkan Railway (KR) on Thursday as heavy rains continued to lash parts of Maharashtra.

The Western Railway (WR) traffic was, however, normal.

Nearly 40 trains on CR and KR were cancelled, rescheduled or short-terminated, reports said. The CR’s traffic on the Mumbai-Pune and Mumbai-Nashik route was badly affected.

The traffic between Mumbai and Karnataka stations also bore the burnt of the monsoon situation.

The Gadag-CSMT short-terminated in Pune, Hubli-Dadar special short-terminated in Pune, while the Dadar-Mysore special will originate from Pune

Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve reviewed the situation during which Ashok Kansal, the General Manager of CR and WR, apprised him of the ground situation and steps taken to normalise the traffic.

On the CR’s Kasara-Igatpuri mountainous route, there were several incidents of landslides blocking the traffic.

“But evening, the Kalyan-Kasara/Igatpuri section was made fit for traffic. The most challenging work was at Ghat sections and Umbermali track-wash locations,” a CR spokesperson said.

State Transport buses were arranged by CR’s Mumbai division for passengers who were stranded in trains from Umbermali/Kasara to Kalyan because of boulders and trees falling on the tracks.

The CR’s Ambernath-Lonavala section that connects Mumbai to Pune was also affected and restoration work is currently underway.

The KR services too were disrupted as water level at the Vashishti river bridge between Chiplun and Kamathe stations in Ratnagiri crossed the danger mark after the heavy overnight rainfall.

"In view of the safety of passengers, train services in this section are suspended temporarily," a KR spokesperson said.

The Konkan Railway has a 756-km-long track from Roha near Mumbai to Thokur, located close to Mangalore.