Came for fest, stranded for hrs

KALYAN: “We were travelling on Sultanpur-ltt (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) express. After reaching Khadavli, we were told that the train will not move ahead for a few hours. After waiting for an hour, we decided to take a local train from Khadavli station (on Central line). Once we reached Kalyan, the train stopped there, leaving us stuck for two hours,” said Nitesh Sharma, 20, from Bhopal, an IIT student who had come with his batch mates to attend for Iitbombay’s Mood Indigo festival.

With many opting for private vehicles, major traffic snarls were reported on all major roads in Kalyan and Dombivli. “Vehicles were stuck in a long queue on the Patripool bridge connecting Kalyan and Dombivli. The bridge already sees major traffic snarls daily. I have been waiting for at least 40 minutes,” said Sanket Shinde, 24, from Kalyan, who was travelling to Dombivli.

The Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Transport (KDMT) announced special services for commuters.

“A total of 20 buses were plied on the Kalyan-dombivli route from 9.30am to 1.30pm on Wednesday. During each trip, we plied at least 80 passengers. We made an additional 96 trips,” said Maruti Khodke, transport manager, KDMT.

Sixteen outstation trains were cancelled, eleven diverted and nine rescheduled. Trains, including Sahyadri, Sinhagad, Deccan, Panchavati, Godavari express, were suspended while others such as Nagercoil Express, Hyderabad Express were diverted via the Diva-panvel-karjat route. Train schedule on the Pune, Nashik track was disrupted completely, as a result of which many commuters had to travel by bus.

The crowds receded only after 12pm, when the services started running slowly.

“The work started at 9.45am and was completed in scheduled time, in the presence of 115 employees, including engineers, one 400-tonne crane and other equipment,” said a senior official from CR. “The block on the upside of was over by 3.05 pm, while the block on the down side was lifted by 1.07 pm,” said a railway official.

Lata Argade, secretary, Suburban Railway Passengers Association, criticised CR administration for scheduling a block on Christmas. “They should have checked with passengers’ association before scheduling such an activity on a holiday. They need to clarify on the refund of ticket charges of cancelled trains,” she said.