Mumbaikars had to face severe inconvenience on Wednesday as a technical snag crippled the services of the Central Railway (CR) for more than an hour during the evening peak hours.
According to CR, two pantographs of 5.41 pm Asangaon-bound local got entangled with the overhead wires as soon as the train left from CST’s platform no. 7. As a result, power tripped and services of the Harbour Line and both fast and slow corridor on the main line were stopped till 6.45 pm.
In the chaos that ensued, lakhs of commuters travelling on the Harbour and main line corridors had to face severe inconvenience. The major railway stations on CR, such as CST, Byculla and Dadar saw huge crowds, as people started thronging the station.
“Suburban and mail traffic on all lines between CST-Byculla and CST-Wadala was affected. Train services were run from Dadar to Kalyan/Karjat/Kasara from Wadala back to Andheri/Panvel,” stated a CR release, adding that the cause of entanglement is been investigated.
As many as 60 suburban services were cancelled till midnight. The relief operations were carried out on war footing, after which the first service left CST for Dombivali and from CST to Panvel at 6.53 pm. “As there were no trains, I had to wait at CST for two hours,” said Bhushan Shinde, a Thane resident.