A day after many office-goers had to walk along train tracks to reach their offices in Mumbai, the Western Railway has said it will enhance and increase the speed of trains in certain sections.
Train services were disrupted in Mumbai at around 5.50 am on May 9 due to an overhead electric wire breakdown between Dahisar and Borivli suburban stations. As a result of the technical snag, all up trains were diverted through the local line.
“Due to OHE (overhead equipment) breakdown between DAHISAR -BORIVALI station, all up through local trains are running late by 10 to 15 minutes,” the zone’s divisional railway manager for Mumbai Central tweeted on May 9.
A number of commuters got off the trains and started walking along the tracks to reach their destinations. The snag was rectified at 7.23 am and the trains resumed normal services later, PTI reported.
Now that the work of opening the permanent diversion between Vangaon and Dahanu Road division on the down line in the Virar-Surat section has been successfully undertaken, the Western Railway will increase the speed of local train services.
The EMU local ran with a speed restriction of 30 kmph on this section due to a dimensional infringement in the alignment of the existing tracks, the Western Railways said in a statement.
“With the re-alignment of the tracks by undertaking the work of permanent diversion, it is now possible to run the local trains with enhanced speed,” the statement said.
Explaining the changes, the Railways said the existing down line of the section was disconnected and then connected to a new alignment with OHE during the eight-hour mega traffic block on May 8, Mint reported.
The Western Railway has also replaced the existing bridge No. 166 and 169, which lay on screw pile foundation. Open web steel girders have been used to construct the new bridges to enhance safety and mobility while the trains run at a higher speed.
On May 7, the commissioner of railway safety inspected the proposed diversion and authorised the commissioning. Soon after, the Western Railway undertook the traffic block to commission the permanent diversion.
