Mumbai: Pipeline falls on moving train; 2 killed

Mumbai: Local train services on the Central Line in Mumbai have been affected after a huge water pipeline and the bridge it passed over, collapsed on a train passing through Thane. At least two persons have been killed and over 10 others have been injured.

"There was panic and commotion among commuters. I was in a compartment towards the middle of the train. We felt that something has struck the train, like a bomb," said Parshushankar Redekar, a commuter and an eyewitness.

The motorman and one commuter died in the accident.

The fire brigade was pressed into service for rescue operations. Efforts are also on to clear way for resumption of traffic. Twelve injured commuters were rescued from the mangled bogies, half of them are critical.

"The bridge of the Thane Municipal Corporation was under construction. The honourable Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for people who died," said S Mudgerikar, Chief PRO, Central Railways.

The accident took place near the busy Thane station. All trains entering Mumbai pass through here. Fortunately, the bridge collapsed after peak hour, so the train it fell on, which was headed to South Mumbai, was relatively empty.

Local municipal officials have repeatedly warned that the bridge was dilapidated and dangerous, but their requests for repair were ignored by railway officials. The bridge was in the process of being dismantled when it fell apart.

Services between Ghatkopar and Thane are disrupted. Local train services from CST and Ghatkopar are slowly resuming. Local services beyond Thane upto Kasara and Karjat are also resuming.

It was in fact a horrible horrible repeat of another such tragedy which happened between Dombivli and Thakurli where the Kalyan railway authorities were similarly slugging it out. Ultimately it led to the collapse of a bridge there too on a local train.

One had thought that the Railway authorities and civic authorities had learnt a lesson, but not so, and again another tragedy has happened.

List of trains cancelled due to accident:

Down trains leaving from Mumbai area on 23/10/2009:

1061 LTT-Muzaffarpur Express.
0859 LTT-Howrah Holiday Special.
1071 LTT-Varanasi Kamayani Express.
2619 LTT-Mangalore Matsyagandha Express.
1009 CSTM-PUNE Sinhagad Express.
1019 CSTM-Bhubaneshwar Konark Express.
5102 CSTM-Chhapra Jansadharan Express.
6381 CSTM-Kanyakumari Express.
2161 LTT-Agra Cant. Lashkar Express.
2125 CSTM-PUNE Pragati Express.
1401 CSTM-Nagpur Nandigram Express.
2123 CSTM-PUNE Deccan Queen.
2109 CSTM-Manmad Panchavati Express.
2105 CSTM-Gondia Vidarbha Express.
1005 CSTM-Latur Express.
0117 CSTM-Sainagar Shirdi Holiday Special.
1011 CSTM-Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur) Mahalaxmi Express.
7057 CSTM-Secunderabad Devgiri Express.
1017 DR-Yashwantpur Chalukya Express.
2701 CSTM-Hyderabad Hussainsagar Express.
2115 CSTM-Solapur Sidheshwar Express.
1327 CSTM-Pandharpur Express.
0125 DR-Varanasi Holiday special.
2163 Dadar-Chennai Egmore Experss

Up trains arriving to Mumbai area on 23/10/2009:

1008 PUNE-CSTM Deccan Express.
2128 PUNE-CSTM Intercity Express.
1022 PUNE-CSTM Indrayani Express.

Short termination of trains arriving Mumbai area on 23/10/2009 and its rescheduling:

3201 Rajendranagar-LTT Express will be terminated at Thane and will run as 3202 ex Thane at 23.00 hrs.
1024 Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur)-CSTM Sahyadri Express will be terminated at Diva and will run as 1023 ex Diva at 19.00 hrs.
2140 Nagpur-CSTM Sewagram Express will be terminated at Diva and will run as 2139 ex Diva at 18.30 hrs.
2202 Kochuveli-LTT Garib Rath Express will be terminated at Panvel and will run as 2201 ex Panvel at 18.30 hrs.
8609 Ranchi-LTT Express will be terminated at Kalyan.
2072 Aurangabad-CSTM Jan Shatabdi Express will be terminated at Kalyan and will run as 2071 ex Kalyan.
7032 Hyderabad-CSTM Express will be terminated at Kalyan and will run as 7031 ex Kalyan 18.00 hrs.
2118 Manmad-LTT Express will be terminated at Kasara and will run as 2117 ex Kasara.
1042 Chennai-CSTM Express will be terminated at Kalyan and will run as 1041 ex Kalyan 18.15 hrs.
1060 Chhapra-LTT Express will be terminated at Kalyan and will run as 1055 LTT-Gorakhpur ex Kalyan.
6346 Thiruvananthapuram-LTT Netravati Express will be terminated at Panvel and will run as 6345 ex Panvel 19.30 hrs.
5018 Gorakhpur-LTT Express will be terminated at Kalyan and will run as 5017 ex Kalyan.
6530 Bangalore-CSTM Udyan Express will be terminated at Karjat.
2533 Lucknow-CSTM Pushpak Express will be terminated at Kalyan and will run as 2534 ex Kalyan on 24/10/2009.
1030 Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur)-CSTM Koyna Express will be terminated at Karjat and will run as 1029 ex Karjat on 24/10/2009.
6352 Nagercoil-CSTM Express will be terminated at Pune and will run as 6339 ex Pune.
7618 Nanded-CSTM Tapovan Express will be terminated at IGP and will run as 7617 ex Igatpuri on 24/10/2009.
2052 Madgaon-CSTM Jan Shatabdi Express will be terminated at Diva and will run as 2051 ex Diva on 24/10/2009.
0104 Madgaon-Mumbai Mandvi Express will be terminated at Panvel and will run as 0111 ex Panvel on 24/10/2009.
1354 Bhusaval-Mumbai Passenger will be terminated at Igatpuri and will run as 1353 Mumbai-Bhusaval Passenger on 24/10/2009.