Commuters walk on tracks after OHE failure disrupts morning trains on WR
The OHE cables snapped at 10.02 am when a Churchgate-bound air conditioned (AC) local crossed Dahisar station and was reaching Borivali. What followed for the next one-and-a-half hours was a nightmare for commuters stranded inside the AC train and in at least three other trains behind it.
Mumbai: Commuters on Western Railway local trains were in for an unpleasant experience on Wednesday morning as the snapping of overhead powerline (OHE) led to an average delay of 15 to 30 minutes and cancellation of 18 services.
The OHE cables snapped at 10.02 am when a Churchgate-bound air conditioned (AC) local crossed Dahisar station and was reaching Borivali. What followed for the next one-and-a-half hours was a nightmare for commuters stranded inside the AC train and in at least three other trains behind it.
Commuters soon took to social media talking about the technical failure and claimed that the train had come to a sudden halt close to a nullah between Dahisar and Borivali stations. The lights went off and cooling in the AC coaches started dropping and added to the discomfort of the commuters in the congested coaches.
Commuters said it was suffocating as fans, too, were not working initially. Commuters claimed that there was no proper communication made by the authorities. Gradually, the motorman and the guard opened the doors of the AC local.
“There is a provision to override the push buttons (in the absence of power) to open the doors and we used that,” said a WR official.
On social media, videos started surfacing, which showed commuters inside the AC local and of three other trains stranded behind, trying to jump onto the tracks.
The railway police were seen helping the commuters disembark the train. The commuters then began walking on the tracks in the sweltering heat even as trains on other rail lines were running as usual.
Sources in the WR said that the motormen on the other lines were asked to slow down and proceed with caution between Borivali and Virar stations, where the other trains were stranded and its commuters walking on the tracks.
“The technical failure was rectified by 11.35am. The staff who had addressed this failure had to come from Vasai and so the delay of almost one-and-half hours,” said another WR official.
The Western Railway Twitter handle claimed that announcements were made at stations as well as in trains while other locals were diverted. And that work was carried out in a war footing. WR recently added 11 new services taking the total to 1,394 services every day, which ferries nearly27 lakh people daily.
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