Mumbai: Five coaches of the Kurla-Ambarnath local train derailed between Kalyan and Vitthalwadi stations in Thane at 6 am on Thursday due to a rail fracture, damaging two electric poles. While no one was injured in the mishap, the incident caused 163 trains on the central line to be cancelled till 4.30 pm, while a few others were delayed. Around 800 railway workers were deployed to fix the problem.

The derailment forced suspension of all services, including long-distance trains. The Kalyan-Vithalwadi down track commenced operations at 4.30 pm. The special local from Kalyan to Karjat left at 4.42 pm and peak services were normalised after 7.30 pm. A.K. Singh, PRO, railways, said, “Five coaches of the train got derailed due to a rail facture. A total of 800 railway workers repaired the track and the train to normalise routine railway services. We sent six mail trains to Latur, Ahamadnagar and Pune during the time spent on repairs.” ?

Rupali Ambure, DCP (railway police), Central Railway, added: “After 7 pm, traffic resumed on the Karjat line with 20 kmph speed near the spot. Minor work is still going on.”

One of the commuters, Shanti Chavhan, said, “While trying to sleep in the train, I suddenly felt a jerk and the sound of broken electric poles. We got scared and went out to the footboard to see what exactly had happened, but couldn’t understand things. After some men got down from the train, they informed us that the train’s coaches had been derailed. We waited for half an hour in the train before some workers came and asked us to got down from the train.”  

Meanwhile, the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Transport (KDMT) deployed five special buses to facilitate commuters.