Mumbai Local Trains Hit Hard As Rains Pound City, Commuters Stranded

Commuters faced severe hardship on Tuesday as local train services of the Central Railway were disrupted on its main and harbour lines due to submergence of tracks after torrential rains in Mumbai.

At some places, the tracks were submerged under as much as 17 inches of water, officials said.

The Central Railway suspended its suburban services on the main line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (in south Mumbai) and Thane and the harbour line between CSMT and Kurla.

The water rose up to eight inches above the tracks in the Sion and Kurla sections, prompting the railway authorities to suspend train operations.

Some long-distance trains were also rescheduled or cancelled, and the Central Railway (CR) set up help desks at various stations to help the stranded passengers, they said.

A large number of commuters were inconvenienced, and many were forced to jump out of the stranded trains and walk through the waterlogged tracks.

Civic personnel distributed biscuits to the stranded passengers in some places.

A commuter told PTI that their local train was stranded near Ghatkopar for more than half an hour, and hence, some passengers jumped onto the tracks to reach the nearest station.

A nurse working with the Tata Hospital said their train did not move from its spot in the Parel area for more than three hours since 12.30 pm.

"We don't know if the train is going to move or not. We are clueless about what has happened and don't know what to do now as roads are also closed due to waterlogging," she said.

Another passenger in the morning said the Metro rail was an alternate option for some of them due to the suspension of local trains.

"To reach our office at Lower Parel, now I am planning to take Metro line-1 till Marol station and from there I will take the underground Aqua line to Worli," the commuter said.

Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of the Central Railway, said there was a low tide of 2.2 metres at 3.29 pm, but water on tracks between Sion-Kurla and Chunabhatti-Kurla sections had not yet receded.

Nila said the water reached up to 13 to 15 inches above the tracks on some sections of the main line around 2 pm to 2.30 pm. It later receded to 11 inches, but due to the continuous heavy rain and the Mithi river level rising, the water on the tracks again went up.

"At one time, the water level was up to 17 inches above the tracks," Nila said, adding that the railway authorities were continuously monitoring the situation.

He said the harbour line services towards Bandra (in western suburbs) were restored around 1.30 pm, and three services were operated from Wadala Road and later from CSMT.

Western Railway's CPRO Vineet Abhishek told PTI that the suburban services on their network were also affected in the Virar-Vasai section due to a technical snag of track changing points and water entering the goods lines.

"Suburban services on Western Railway running late, but there is not waterlogging above safety level anywhere," he said.

Tracks on both the Central and Western Railway routes were indented at several locations like Parel, Curry Road, Byculla, Dadar, Matunga Road, Mahim and other locations.

A Central Railway spokesperson said they have set up help desks at major stations to help passengers stranded due to the cancellation or rescheduling of long-distance trains.

Bus operations of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking were also badly hit due to waterlogged roads.

Dozens of bus routes were diverted due to the inundation in low-lying areas, a BEST spokesperson said.

Nearly a dozen buses were stuck due to waterlogging at different locations in the city and suburbs, the spokesperson added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)