The ongoing streak of Central Railway’s bad luck continued on Thursday as passengers resorted to flash rail roko at Vithalwadi and Ambernath railway stations during morning peak hours to protest the delay in suburban services.
According to sources, passengers panicked as they mistakenly sat in a stationary train at Kalyan station thinking it was their regular CST-bound train. However, the train was scheduled for Ambernath (Down direction). When the train started moving in the Down direction, passengers panicked and later got down on tracks when it halted at Vithalwadi station. As a result, the train scheduled for Ambernath was held up at Vithalwadi from 8.48 am to 10.05 am.
Moreover, agitating commuters later detained a Karjat-CST local at Ambarnath from 9.51 am to 10.52 am. CR authorities stated that the regular timetable was disrupted due to a technical problem that developed in the locomotive of the Mumbai-Pune Intercity Express. “As a result of the technical problem in Intercity Express, the local trains behind it were left stranded and the entire schedule of locals was affected. Due to this, passengers resorted to agitation to protest the delay in services,” said a CR officer.
“Passengers are already frustrated about the frequency of trains from Ambernath to CST. The delay in services on Thursday further aggravated the situation,” said Sunil Chaudhary, president of Ambernath Municipal Council.
Later in the day, a CR release said, “The first train started from the affected site at 10.54 am. GRP, RPF and railway station personnel were immediately summoned at both the locations to disperse the agitators and resume the services. Due to these incidents, four locals were short-terminated at Kalyan and three locals were short-terminated at Dombivali and were run as special trains towards CST.”