Heavy showers don't make trains stop in their tracks

Despite heavy rains lashing the city, the suburban railways ran smoothly without much disruption yesterday. Surprisingly, there were no cases of water logging on the tracks, and trains weren't cancelled despite the heavy downpour since the night of July 9.

Shower power: Protected entirely from the rain, a motorist maneuvers his way through Parel during a heavy shower that hit the city yesterday. Colaba received 56.4 mm rainfall while Santacruz received 23 mm rainfall. pic/Shadab Khan

Yesterday, Colaba received 56.4 mm rainfall while Santacruz received 23 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. Central Railway (CR) officials said that there were heavy rains especially in areas beyond Sion-Matunga and further south. "We feared that there could be waterlogging, but services weren't affected," said a senior CR official on condition of anonymity.

Officials claimed that the tide played a vital role in causing no waterlogging. "There were low tides particularly when it rained heavily so there weren't major problems," said Atul Rane, chief PRO, Central Railway. However, trains were running late by 10 minutes until early evening after which they started operating on time.

Two trains were also cancelled, one a Panvel-CST harbour line train that was affected due to unit failure and a Thane local that sources said was cancelled so that other trains were not delayed. CR authorities claim that they have already set up 38 water pumps across Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-Karjat/Kasara route to remove water accumulated on tracks.

The areas most prone to waterlogging are between Sion-Matunga, Kurla, Mankhurd, Parel, Masjid to name a few. Meanwhile, Western Railway trains were also delayed, but no services were cancelled.

"There were no problems of waterlogging along the entire stretch," said a WR official. Authorities have placed 68 water pumps along the Churchgate-Virar route that includes Santacruz, Dadar, Matunga, Mahim, Bandra, Borivli and Kandivli.

On five days in July, tide levels will surpass 4.5 metres, which coupled with heavy rains could result in water logging in the city.

Normally, if rainfall is over 65 mm train services get disrupted. The meteorological department has predicted heavy rains today and tomorrow as well.u00a0