Mumbai:
After two days of chaos, normalcy seems to have returned to Mumbai's Central Railway line. The trains are running on schedule today without any delays or disruptions. The authorities have reportedly worked round the clock to restore the services.
A three-member committee will investigate what caused the fire in the signalling cabin at the Kurla station on Tuesday night that damaged the equipment leading to big delays as fewer trains ran on the Central line. In the absence of electronic signals, flags were being used to keep trains running.
Three commuters lost their lives yesterday while travelling on overcrowded trains. Though there was chaos on the central line yesterday, things looked far more organised as fewer people than usual seemed to turn up at the stations in the morning. As the day wore on, however, the crowds swelled and soon the trains running on the Central line, 15% less trains than usual, were frighteningly overcrowded.
The 45-minute delay in the services and the cancellations of several trains on Wednesday led to a loss of Rs. 1 crore for Mumbai's Central Railway.
It also led to chaos on the city's roads with several regular commuters forced to take out their cars or hire cabs, causing massive jams at crucial junctions like the Eastern Express Highway.
The Central Railways is the busiest of the three critical local rail lines that connect the island city to its suburbs. It connects people from far flung suburbs of central Mumbai like Kalyan, Dombivali, Thane to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). Around 40 lakh commuters travel on Mumbai's Central Railway line every day.