Mumbai: Waterlogging, landslide hit Central Railway, Western Railway

Stranded commuters walk towards Byculla station

As it rained incessantly, Mumbai's public transport ran intermittently on Monday. Though many preferred to stay back at home, those who ventured out reached their destinations with delays. As trains stopped and ran on the Central Railway, many commuters were seen walking on tracks.

On CR, there were disruptions at Kanjurmarg and Bhandup due to waterlogging, a landslide near Kasara, tree fall near Lonavala, and later in the evening near Kalwa. Western Railway services remained operational.

Submerged tracks at Thane station on Monday morning

On the Konkan Railway, there was an ingress of water and slush in Old Goa tunnel between Karmali and Thivim stations, railway officials said. Several trains including the Hazrat-Nizamuddin Ernakulam Daily Special, the Amritsar Junction Kochuveli Weekly Special, the Ernakulam Junction- Lokmanya Tilak Duronto Bi-Weekly Special, the Kochuveli-Porbandar Weekly Special and the Ernakulam Junction-Ajmer Junction Weekly Special, were diverted via Panvel-Pune route.

While a landslide slowed down vehicle movement on the Nashik-Mumbai highway near Kasara ghat, a similar incident hit rail traffic on the Kasara line.

Till 1pm, BEST officials said, buses on six routes on three flooded roads in the suburbs had to be diverted, starting 8:45am, though the situation was better than Sunday when only 2,175 services were run as compared to 3,082 on Monday.

Also read: Mumbai Rains: Lakes get a full month's water stock in two days

Tough day for commuters

Rishad Sharma said it took him over two hours to reach CSMT from Kalyan which otherwise takes just over one hour. "When I sat on the train in the morning, it was wet and drizzling, but the intensity of the rain increased as the commute started. The train moved slowly. There was waterlogging near Kanjurmarg, Bhandup and Kurla," he said.

A landslide blocks a section of tracks near Kasara

Another commuter and essential worker Charitra Poojary had to travel from Dadar to Dombivli. "There was a minimal 30-minute delay among all the train services. But despite waterlogging and showers, trains thankfully continued to ply," she said.

Sandesh Kumar said he travelled from Jogeshwari to Churchgate with some difficulty. "There were delays, but the train did not stop much anywhere. The journey was usually slower than regular. The services looked fewer than normal in the morning," he said.

Durvesh Nikam came from Nashik and got down at Kalyan in the morning. "We wanted to reach Kurla and managed to board a local train but it got stranded near Kanjurmarg. We could not move out due to heavy luggage. After much delay, we reached home," he added.

2,175
No. of services run by BEST on Monday