Train wagons catch fire near Mumbai

Train traffic betwen Gujarat and Mumbai was affected in the early hours of Friday, as well as the peak time morning traffic, after two wagons of a goods train caught fire in Dahanu in Palghar district in Maharashtra.

Several mail and express trains on the Western Railways (WR) had to be cancelled or short-terminated.

Hundreds of people were put to inconvenience because of the disruption. As Friday was Bhai Dooj, the public transportation system was busy.

The early morning local train services from Dahanu-Virar was affected, however, later in the day, it was normalised.

Because of the fire in two wagons near the Dahanu Road railway station, the overhead wires melted and this had to be rectified.

The cause of the fire is not yet ascertained. Because of the fire, train movements to Mumbai from Ahmedabad and Vadodara were affected.

"The fire incident was reported at 10.35 pm (Thursday). The 15th and 16th wagons of the goods train that was coming from Vadodara to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai, caught fire. Due to the blaze and heat, the overhead wire equipment melted," the WR tweeted.

Top WR officials rushed to the site, and work on overhead wire restoration was taken up. The fire brigade, Railway Police Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) rushed to the spot.

The fire was doused by 2 am on Friday morning. At least 10 long-distance trains were halted as a result of the incident, the police official added.

Train 59024/59023 (Valsad-Mumbai Central-Valsad) and 12935 (Bandra T- Surat) are cancelled, while train no 22954 (Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central) is short terminated at Surat. Train 59024/59023 (Valsad-Mumbai Central-Valsad) and 12935 (Bandra T-Surat) were cancelled.

The Ahmedabad Passenger, Dahanu-Andheri local, Valsad Mumbai Passenger, Surat-Mumbai Flying Ranee, Dahanu Panvel and Boisar Diva shuttle were some of the trains which were cancelled. Virar-Dahanu shuttle, Mumbai-Ahmedabad Passenger, Mumbai Surat Flying Ranee and Mumbai Valsad Passenger, Churchgate-Dahanu local were also cancelled.