Local derails at CSMT, throws Harbour line out of gear for 3+ hours

Mumbai: More than 52 train services were cancelled, 26 were terminated before their final destination, and several others were delayed by 15-20 minutes on Monday after a Harbour line train derailed near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). No passengers were injured in the incident, according to Central Railway (CR) officials.

Around 11.35 am on Monday, a Panvel-CSMT local was approaching platform 2 of CSMT when its second coach derailed while switching tracks. “The train was at a slow speed and got dragged by almost 40-50 meters after the trolley derailed. There was no injury to passengers,” said a CR official, who requested anonymity as they weren’t authorised to speak to the media. A trolley is a set of wheels on which the coach is placed.

The incident resulted in Harbour line services between CSMT and Wadala being unavailable for over three hours, as CR officials worked to restore the derailed coach and clear the tracks. Only two platforms at CSMT service the Harbour line.

“Enroute trains towards CSMT were brought up to Masjid station. After this, train services on the Harbour line were operational up to Wadala at the time of restoration,” said a CR spokesperson. Luckily for CR, since the incident occurred during off-peak hours, officials said they were able to keep overcrowding and chaos on the Harbour line under control.

The trolley of the derailed coach was re-railed at 1.15pm, and the train was removed from the site by 1.55pm. Railway engineers then examined the quality of the tracks and some technical parameters before giving a green signal to normalise rail traffic at 3.06pm.