Rains hit Metro peak hour traffic

Mumbai: Rains finally caught up with the Metro after throwing the Mumbai locals out of gear for the past two days. The Metro was shut for one-and-a-half-hours during morning peak hours between Andheri and Versova, affecting services. Also, Western Railway (WR) saw a delay of 20-25 minutes as the Valsad Express grazed the platform at Boisar while Central Railway (CR) saw a 2-minute delay due to waterlogging at Kalwa.

Exit and entry gates at Metro stations saw huge crowds with commuters travelling to their offices being hit the worse as the connectivity to Andheri and Versova was hit from 8.05 am to 9.35 am. Metro officials have said that even though there was a disruption, they ran extra services between Ghatkopar and Andheri.

A Mumbai Metro One spokesperson in a statement said, “A technical issue was detected in OHE (overhead wire) between DN Nagar and Versova stations at 8:05 am today. The trains continued to run in normal loop between Ghatkopar and Andheri, covering nine out of twelve stations. Services resumed on the entire VAG corridor at 9.35 am after OHE was repaired efficiently.”

Metro officials did not provide details of the number of cancellations but it was estimated that more than 12 services saw partial cancellations.

On the other hand, WR’s services from Dahanu were affected after the double decker Valsad passenger train grazed the platform after the soil erosion under the tracks led to its sinking.

WR chief public relations officer Ravindra Bhakar said, “The track was lifted but there was a delay of only 10 to 15 minutes on the line as a result.”

Commuters had taken to social media to complain about the delay and said that trains were delayed from Dahanu to CST by almost 25 minutes.

On the other hand, CR saw a delay of 20 minutes on the slow line towards CST due to waterlogging at Kalwa.