Mumbai: Local train services on the Central Railway (CR) were severely disrupted on Monday following intense rainfall and waterlogging on key sections of the track. The disruption caused chaos across the Harbour and Main lines, leaving thousands of commuters stranded and major stations choked with crowds. Several trains were delayed, cancelled, or short-terminated.
According to spokesperson of CR, Mumbai City received extremely heavy rainfall on Monday, recording 253 mm, during the first rains of the Monsoon, which is the earliest Monsoon arrival in the recorded history.
Two pumping stations in the vicinity of CSMT and Byculla respectively —one at ONGC Yellow Gate, and the second at Mahalaxmi were not operationalised. The Mahalakshmi Pumping station could be operationalised around 11.30 am. With the high tide peaking at 11:24 am at 4.75 metres, the flood gates had to be closed nearly an hour earlier, which hindered the reduction of water levels.
Harbour line services were suspended for over an hour between Vadala and CSMT, while Main line trains were significantly delayed. Trains were either short-terminated or ran behind schedule, resulting in overcrowded platforms and passengers being stuck inside trains for hours.
According to spokesperson of CR, Mumbai City received extremely heavy rainfall on Monday, recording 253 mm, during the first rains of the Monsoon, which is the earliest Monsoon arrival in the recorded history.
Two pumping stations in the vicinity of CSMT and Byculla respectively —one at ONGC Yellow Gate, and the second at Mahalaxmi were not operationalised. The Mahalakshmi Pumping station could be operationalised around 11.30 am. With the high tide peaking at 11:24 am at 4.75 metres, the flood gates had to be closed nearly an hour earlier, which hindered the reduction of water levels.
According to CR, around 20 services were short-terminated at Dadar / Parel up 4 pm on Monday and 30 services were cancelled due to suspension of traffic between 10:30 am and 11:30 am between Vadala Road and CSMT.Around 8 mail Express Trains were delayed for around 2 hours because of the Rains.
“Due to water logging between Byculla and CSMT, some local services are short-terminated at Kurla, Dadar, and Parel ,” posted the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of CR's Mumbai Division on X (formerly Twitter) at 11:29 am. Down fast line services were reportedly restored by 12:30 pm, but disruptions continued well beyond that time.
At 12:40 pm, X user Ramkrishna posted a video from Dadar station showing packed platforms, writing, “No train in Dadar to travel towards Kasara, Kalyan, or Karjat. Station is crowded so much.”
Earlier, in a separate post at 11:33 am, the DRM blamed external factors for the crisis, stating, “Train services are affected due to: heavy rain in the Mumbai region, overflow of BMC drainage lines, and high tide causing waterlogging on railway lines. Efforts are being made to coordinate with the BMC Corporation to resolve the issue.”
The statement, however, triggered strong reactions from the public. “Solve it ASAP... It was not expected from the Central Railway. In the last five years, CR has done a phenomenal job even in the worst July rains. Don’t break the streak,” posted commuter Devesh Tiwari.
Another user, Sachin Rokade, criticized the ongoing blame game between authorities. “Why are the people of Mumbai being made to suffer for your failures? Instead of taking responsibility, the Railway Administration and the BMC are busy blaming each other,” he wrote.
The incident has also cast doubt on CR’s recent accolades. Just a few months ago, Central Railway won a national award for "Best Innovation" for its solution to prevent point machine failures during flooding.
Despite the award, operational challenges persisted on Monday as points had to be clamped at several locations and trains operated at restricted speeds under A-marker conditions — suggesting the touted innovation fell short in practice.
However according to CR spokesperson, "Point machines have nothing to do with this as the track was under water for 7-8 inches and the point machine could not be used as the track was invisible for the motorman"
"As Mumbai braces for the monsoon, Monday's chaos raises urgent questions about infrastructure preparedness and inter-agency coordination to manage flood-related disruptions in the city’s lifeline transport system" said Swapnil Salunkhe of Dombivali who frequently travel between CSMT and Dombivli.
