30-min delay on harbour line angers passengers

Mumbai: Commuters were left fuming as the harbour line suffered up to 30 minute delay on Monday. The delay occurred during peak hours between 5.45pm and 7pm when office-goers start their journey back home.

Traffic on the harbour line was held up for close to an hour, reportedly due to lack of electricity supply of overhead wire (OHW). While there was no word from railway authorities regarding the reason for the abrupt halt, commuters were left frustrated with many taking to Twitter to voice their frustration.

To add to commuters’ woes, the railway authorities did not give sufficient reason for the delay. When asked about the disrupted harbour line services, a senior railway official told The Asian Age, “Yes, there was a slag due to which the trains were running late for 30 minutes but we got things fixed and back to normal.”

Asked what actually went wrong, the official said, “We are investigating the cause, but there was slight smoke engulfing the stretch between Sandhurst Road and Reay Road. It was an OVW glitch which we fixed as it was reported at the sub-station of these stations.”

Kalpesh Hadkar, who works near Cotton Green station, said, “I was waiting for the train for more than half an hour as no proper announcement was made and we were clueless about what actually went wrong. When the train arrived after 30 minutes, it was overcrowded.”

Another commuter Anagha Randive said, “We’re travelling along a death track every day. When trains are late and we are pushed into compartments, the situation gets worse. The problem gets highlighted only if a life is lost otherwise for the railway, it is routine business.”