On Sunday morning, suburban train operations on the Western Railway were significantly impacted for nearly five hours due to a failure in the overhead equipment (OHE) located between Bhayandar and Naigaon stations, leading to notable disruptions in train services.
Officials from the Mumbai Central division of Western Railway reported that the incident occurred at 7:52 am on the Down Through line at the 44/1-6 kilometre mark. This malfunction resulted in the cancellation of 15 to 20 suburban services and caused roughly 50 trains to operate behind schedule, affecting the entire corridor.
Initially, two local trains and one MEMU service were halted because of the equipment failure. “Eventually, one local train and the MEMU were able to proceed, while efforts were ongoing to move the remaining EMU service. In total, about 15 to 20 services were cancelled and nearly 50 trains faced delays due to the incident,” stated a Western Railway representative.
To remedy the situation, a tower wagon was sent from Vasai Road to the affected area, and diesel power was arranged to help clear the stranded trains. At one point, at least one suburban local train remained immobilized as restoration efforts were underway.
Commuters traveling on routes distant from the affected area also reported delays stemming from the cascading effects of the disruption. “I boarded from Marine Lines expecting a typical commute, but trains were operating more slowly than usual and making longer stops at stations. I arrived at Andheri nearly 20 minutes late,” shared Rohan Mehta, a passenger traveling from Marine Lines.
Another traveler, Sneha Iyer, who was on her way from Dadar to Andheri, expressed her frustration regarding the lack of timely information. “There were no clear announcements about what was happening. We found ourselves stuck between stations for a while, which disrupted my morning plans,” she noted.
After extensive repair work, the Down Fast line between Bhayandar and Naigaon was restored at 12:47 pm. Shortly after, the first AC local train from Churchgate to Virar departed at 12:52 pm, marking the gradual return to regular services.
Officials from Western Railway indicated that operations were under close observation and that services were expected to return to normal in the afternoon. Further updates regarding the cause of the OHE failure are still pending.
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