Commuters on the Western Railway (WR) faced inconvenience after 40 services were cancelled and another 100 delayed when a signal failure threw both, the fast and slow lines into a tizzy. This was the second time in one week that a signal failure of this proportion has occurred. The earlier failure had occurred in Goregaon.
Services on all of the railway lines were shut down for over 30 minutes as the signal failure occurred between 10.55 am and 11.55 am, the WR then ran around 20 special services between Churchgate-Andheri and Goregaon-Borivali to relieve some pressure but it was of little help.
Commuters like Nelesh Correai, a resident of Virar who was returning from a half-day at work, said that his train was stuck between Bandra and Khar from 11.20 am till noon.
“It was hot and sitting in the train for more than half-an-hour was unbearable. The motorman did make an announcement in the train that there was an issue with the train but was unable to tell us when the work would begin,” said Mr Correai.
Officials on the other hand, suspect that an internal problem in the Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) might be the reason behind the failure. “In Goregoan the problem was caused by the new RRI but we are yet to ascertain the reason for Andheri’s signal failure. Our men are taking off the equipment to try and see what the issue was,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The failure was seen at the north side of Andheri station and as a result of failures of this nature, the motormen bring their trains to a complete halt as they do not know if a train from the opposite end is approaching or not.
