04 October,2016 06:38 PM IST | | Shashank Rao and Pallavi Smart
Chaos ensues as technical glitch delays Harbour trains Commuters post 'train stranded' messages on social media which adds to confusion; railway helpline inundated with calls
Schoolchildren brave the rain and fog to reach school. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Rush-hour madness intensified this morning when a technical problem delayed trains on the Harbour line by 15 minutes. Local train services between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Panvel were hit when a motorman detected an open fish plate around 8.35 am, while heading towards Mankhurd. However, the delay in mending the fault led to chaos as commuters began posting incorrect messages about "trains being stranded" along the Harbour line. Consequently, the railway police helpline numbers was inundated with calls regarding the news circulating social media.
A Central Railway official said, "The fish plate or the joint between two tracks had opened between Tilak Nagar and Chembur. So the motorman had to halt the train until the same was rectified. As a result, trains on both sides were delayed by 15 minutes."
Worried commuters began posting about the delay on WhatsApp and Twitter, but some commuters reportedly mentioned about trains being "stranded" along the Harbour Line which led to confusion. Also, commuters alleged that the railway authorities did not announce any delay along the line. Snehal Kulkarni, who works at an NGO and travels from Airoli to Kurla for work every day, said, "Trains were much more late than usual. We did not understand what the problem was. Then there were these messages on WhatsApp about trains being stranded, which added to our worries. Railways should have made announcements about the delay to avoid the chaos."
Another commuter, Sumit Chaudhury, who travels to Kharghar from Chunabhatti daily, said, "The crowd on the platform was literally overflowing due to the delay. After reading the WhatsApp messages some commuters called the railway helpine, but we were told trains have been delayed due to rains."
Incidentally, trains across the city have been running slow due to the fog cover over Mumbai. Mumbai has received 61 mm rainfall since October 1 and, in last 24 hours, the city has received 16.4 mm.
