Mumbai's chaotic Friday: Commuter rage halts Central line suburban rail services for 6 hours

Lakhs of people who are dependent on the Central and Harbour line suburban rail services had a harrowing time on Friday after trains came to a grinding halt for close to 6 hours after commuters staged a 'rail roko' over frequent delays.

Mumbai: Lakhs of people who are dependent on the Central and Harbour line suburban rail services in Mumbai had a harrowing time on Friday after trains came to a grinding halt for close to 6 hours after commuters staged a 'rail roko' over frequent delays.

The train services have now resumed but it will be hours before the huge backlog created by the blockade is cleared.

Trouble started at 7 am when a pantograph of a local train got entangled in the OHE - overhead power supply wire - near Thakurli station, close to Kalyan, in Thane district. Railway officials cut the power supply to the line so as to rectify the flaw and as an interim measure diverted trains to the three other active lines between Kalyan and Thane.

However, the whole operation caused a delay of 15-20 minutes during the busy morning hours. With a frequency of one train every 3-4 minutes and each train carrying around 5000 people, the delay meant that thousands of people were stuck at stations all along the route.

Soon, commuters stranded at Diva station started protesting against the delay. They were later, reportedly, joined by local people and the mob went ahead and blocked all the railway lines passing through the station.

They also assaulted motormen – train drivers – after which their union threatened to go on strike. However, they dropped the plan after a meeting with railway and state government officials.

The police had resorted to a mild lathicharge to get the situation in control after the protesters torched some vehicles parked near the station.

Trouble soon spread to nearby Thane station where angry commuters pelted stones. Later services were also hit on the Harbour Line.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis discussed the matter with Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

He tweeted:

After local train disruption I have sent MOS Home & UD Ranjeet Patil to immediately ensure that Law & Order situation is maintained. — Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) January 2, 2015

Discussed the matter with Minister Suresh Prabhu. We will look into the reasons of disruption &work on corrective course for future. — Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) January 2, 2015

 Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu also tweeted:

Very unfortunate for commuters to suffer on Central Rail. Directed GM to sort out the grievances ASAP. Diva to CST feasibility studied now — Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) January 2, 2015

We will work withMaharashtra Govt to create separate SPV to address State issues. Discussed with CM. Both Govts will work on it. — Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) January 2, 2015

Suburban rail network is under severe stress. Long neglected.Drawing up plan to revamp it on top priority. Need time to implement.Huge task — Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) January 2, 2015