Derailment: Trains delayed by 14 hrs

Mehul R Thakkar

MUMBAI : Local train services on main Central Railways (CR) between CSMT and Kalyan were affected for over 14 hours after the derailment of three coaches of a mail train on Friday night. However, no injuries were reported in the incident.

Railway officials said that there will be investigation if human error caused the collision. Around 10 long distance trains were cancelled due to the incident and several trains were rescheduled or short-terminated due to the incident.

At 9.45 pm on Friday night , three rear end coaches of Dadar-Puducherry Express derailed near Matunga railway station. According to the railway officials, prima facie it seems that the derailment took place due to signal passed at danger (SPAD) when it was red for the Gadgad Express that departed from platform no 7 and the Dadar-Puducherry Express that left from Platform No 5. But the exact cause will be known after a detailed enquiry.

Due to SPAD, the train hit the Express. However, considering both the trains were at low speed, the damage was minimal and there were no injuries. The senior Central Railway officials said the enquiry into the incident has been ordered, and said prima facie it may be human error, but cannot be confirmed.

Shivani Sutar, Chief Public Relations officer of Central Railways, said, “A departmental enquiry will be conducted to ascertain what led to the incident. The report will answer whether it was human error.”

Sutar added, “As per our general procedure, after any accident, the pilot or the motorman is kept away from duty. The same has followed.”

PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO Stranded commuters at Thane on Saturday