Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) witnessed a massive crowd of commuters on Monday after a signal failure at Kanjurmarg and a separate overhead wire problem between Mulund and Thane disrupted Mumbai's Central Railway suburban services, leaving commuters stranded and trains running hours behind schedule.
Videos shared on social media showed commuters crowding the railway platforms as they waited for their trains amid widespread disruption. The footage circulated alongside complaints about delays and difficulties faced by passengers trying to reach their destinations.
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What caused the disruption?
According to Central Railway officials cited by PTI and other news organisations, two separate technical incidents disrupted services on October 26.
In the first incident, Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila stated that a fire in the signalling and telecommunications relay room at Kanjurmarg caused signals to go blank at around 9:30 am. The failure affected approximately 24 signals across six lines between Vikhroli and Bhandup, The Times of India reported.
Nila said about the second incident that a wire of unknown origin was found hanging from the overhead equipment on the Down Slow line between Mulund and Thane at around 9:23 am, nearly 31.14 kilometres from CSMT. Railway authorities imposed a power block at 10 am to address the problem. The affected section was restored at approximately 10:48 am.
The two incidents occurred within minutes of each other, compounding the scale of the disruption. The Times of India reported that the disruption resulted in the cancellation of 80 local train services - 60 on the Main Line and 20 on the Harbour Line. Trains that continued to run faced delays of approximately 70-90 minutes.
Three deaths reported
Three people were found dead on railway tracks in separate locations, according to reports.
Two bodies were found along the Ghatkopar–Vikhroli stretch and were taken to Rajawadi Hospital, while another person was found dead in Bhandup.
Bhandup- The Indian Express reported that 21-year-old Sahil Thite, a resident of Mulund, was hit by a local train at Bhandup Station at around 5:30 pm while attempting to cross tracks to reach another platform. He was taken to a hospital and was declared dead on arrival.
Ghatkopar-Vikhroli section- Two bodies were discovered on the tracks later in the evening around 9:30 pm.The identities of the deceased and the circumstances surrounding their deaths had not been established in the report.
The Kurla Government Railway Police registered an accidental death report in the Bhandup case.
Central Railway ordered an inquiry into the disruption. Swapnil Nila said that an inquiry would be conducted to establish the cause of the fire in the signalling hut. The available reports do not provide a final finding on what caused the fire.
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