Downpour hits train traffic at Kasara Ghat near Mumbai

The train traffic between CSMT in south Mumbai and Kasara station of the Central Railway CR over 100 km away resumed on Thursday afternoon 17 hours after a part of the track was washed away due to torrential rains an official saidThe traffic of longdistance trains would take some time to resume and buses have been arranged to ferry the stranded passengers he added Train services between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus CSMT and Kasara were restored around 3 pm said Shivaji Sutar chief spoksperson CRThe track near Umbermali station in the TitwalaKasara section which had been washed away was restored about 11 am but since the Kalu river was flowing above the danger mark operations in the section could not be resumed immediately he said As it rained heavily through the night incidents of mudslide and boulder fall were reported at five or six locations in the 14 km Ghat hill stretch between Kasara and IgatpuriTrains for North and East India from Mumbai travel through the Kasara Ghat One Poclain excavator two JCBs 12 boulder wagons and around 210 workers were deployed along the Ghat since morning to restore the operations the CR spokesperson said The ghat has no approach road It was raining heavily and damage at various locations made operating the machines more difficult Sutar saidThe train traffic on the Down and Up line is likely to be restored by evening while the middle line will take some more time he added Three trains which were stuck in the Kasara Ghat section were taken to Igatpuri while the CR also arranged buses of the MSRTC the state transport undertaking for stranded passengers As many as 29 buses took 1290 passengers from Kasara to Kalyan while 44 buses were arranged for taking 2860 passengers from Igatpuri to KalyanSuburban train services of the Central Railway were operated only up to Titwala and Ambernath stations in Thane district from the CSMT in south Mumbai since Wednesday night Operations from Titwala to Igatpuri in Nashik district and Ambernath to Lonavala in Pune district were suspended on late Wednesday nightAround 1015 pm the CR suspended the traffic between Titwala and Igatpuri following heavy waterlogging on tracks near Umbermali station Later at 1220 am the CR suspended traffic between Ambernath and Lonavala section as flooding took place near Vangani station about 90 km from Mumbai Kasara recorded around 138 mm rainfall in four hours from 9 pm on Wednesday while Lonavala and Karjat recorded 142 mm and 1291 mm rainfall from midnight till 7 am on ThursdayThe CRs suburban services on the Harbour TransHarbour and BelapurKharkopar lines were running as per schedule Local train services on the Western Railway route were also affected due to track changing point failure at Churchgate in south Mumbai early Thursday morning a spokesperson said The problem was resolved around 730 am and operations were restoredThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever