Train services on some Central Railway routes were disrupted on Sunday morning due to an extended mega block for a bridge girder launch in Mumbai, causing inconvenience to people heading for Republic Day events and long distance travellers.
Commuters had to walk along the tracks on some of the affected routes and the disruption also led to huge crowds at various stations on the Central Railway suburban network, as per eyewitnesses.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is re-building the new east-west link Carnac Bridge between the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Masjid railway stations in south Mumbai, after the British-era structure was demolished due to its dilapidated condition.
The suburban services, which were supposed to normalise from the CSMT by 5.30 am on Sunday, resumed later at 10.09 am due to the 'block burst', as per the officials.
Earlier in the day, the Central Railway in a post on X said 11 long distance trains that depart from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai were rescheduled and nine trains which arrive at CSMT were short-terminated due to the block burst.
There were also reports of a labourer getting injured during the girder launch, an official said.
The six-hour-long mega block conducted for launching the girder of the under-construction Carnac Bridge was initially scheduled to end at 5.30 am, but it got delayed, railway officials said.
This caused inconvenience to passengers travelling by the local as well as long distance trains.
Many government employees, teachers and students could not reach for the Republic Day functions on time due to disruption of the local trains services on the Central Railway network, officials said.
The Central Railway's local train operations were cancelled between CSMT and Byculla and between CSMT and Wadala stations on the main and harbour lines, respectively, due to the mega block which was scheduled from 11.30 pm on Saturday to 5.30 am on Sunday, an official said.
Buses were arranged at CSMT, Dadar, Byculla and Wadala Road for commuters, the official said.
Later, the train services on CSMT-Byculla and CSMT-Wadala route slowly resumed at 10.09 am, Central Railway's chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila said.
There was a speed restriction of 30 kmph at the Carnac Bunder bridge location.
Owning to the disruption, the crowd swelled at most of the suburban stations and on local trains on the Central Railway routes.
"Passengers were walking along the tracks between Chinchpokli and Byculla station from morning," a Chinchpokli resident claimed.
He also said that he witnessed huge crowds at Byculla and Kurla stations during the journey.
The Central Railway said additional buses were arranged from major railway stations.
Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking spokesperson Sudas Sawant, however, did not provide details despite repeated attempts.
As per the Central Railway, more than a dozen long distance trains were either cancelled or rescheduled, while many long distance trains were regulated at various stations, causing great inconvenience to passengers.
Arjun Dhavale, an X user, in his post criticised the authorities for the hardship caused to passengers.
'SHAME ON CENTRAL RAILWAY! Causing inconvenience to 1000s of passengers! 12124 Pune-CSMT Deccan Queen, 11009 Pune-CSMT Sinhagad Express cancelled mid-way and all passengers have been cramped up into 12126 Pune-CSMT Pragati Express. Also Pragati Express short-terminated at Panvel,' he said.
Some passengers claimed their trains were stuck midway for hours.
'Why Train Is Not Moving From Ghoti Since 2 Hours Why Can't you arrange an Alternative for the Passengers its your Duty to do So. Why You always behave Irresponsible?,' X user @sshemada said in a post.
The Central Railway daily operates nearly 1,800 local services on its suburban network, in addition to long distance trains, transporting about 37 lakh commuters.
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