Mumbai’s lifeline goes offtrack

Mumbai: Heavy showers on Thursday crippled suburban train services, leaving lakhs of passengers inconvenienced through the day. There was flooding on tracks near Malad and signal failure at Kurla, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli on the Main line, and at Mankhurd, Chembur and Kurla on the Harbour line. 

    Several commuters told TOI that trains ran an hour late on the Central Railway while it was delayed by 20 to 30 minutes on Harbour and Western lines. Passengers waited for 20 to 40 minutes on crowded platforms to catch trains and this too was a challenge as trains arrived packed like sardines. 
    "Indicators showed timings of trains which should have left (as per the timetable) more than an hour ago," said Mahesh Gada, a regular commuter from Mulund. 
    CR spokesperson V Chandrasekar told TOI, "Due to incessant rains, there were intermittent signal failures at Kurla, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Mankhurd, Chembur and Kurla. Drains parallel to railway tracks in Ghatkopar-Kurla section overflowed, which was a contributory factor in signal failures. Precautions were taken to clamp and set all tracks in straight direction to ensure safe running of trains." He said trains were running 25 to 30 minutes late on Main line and 
15 to 20 minutes late on Harbour. "By 3.45pm, signals began to function properly." 
    WR spokesperson Sharat Chandrayan said the delay was just eight to ten minutes. "It was mainly between 9am and 10.30am and was due to water-logging near Malad." HOLLOW RLY CLAIMS DOWN THE DRAIN 
CENTRAL RAILWAY: Encroachments and silt were removed and tracks lifted to prevent waterlogging Around 450 unauthorized structures were removed from the railway area to clear drainage Culverts were cleaned Pumps were deployed at lowlying areas such as Parel and Sandhurst Road 
WESTERN RAILWAY: Tracks were lifted in low-lying areas such as Nalasopara, Vasai Road, Kandivli, Malad, Goregaon and Bandra (East) Desilting and cleaning of all 43 culverts was done with BMC funds 52 diesel pumps are to be installed at vulnerable low-lying locations Precautionary work at service buildings as well as electrical and signallng and telecom installations 
SIGNAL PROBLEMS 
When water enters tracks, it affects signals. When a signal malfunctions, it turns red and speed restrictions are automatically imposed. The timetable goes for a toss and trains run slow at a speed of 15 to 20 kmph Rush claims senior's life Badlapur: A 62-year-old died on Thursday morning after falling in a gap between a train and the railway platform at Badlapur. The victim, Vasant Virkar, fell while trying to board a 10.40am CST local that reached station late at 11.20am. TNN