Two persons were killed and 15 injured today while travelling in an overcrowded train on Mumbai’s Central Railway, which has been hit by delayed services for a second day running.
A Central Railway spokesperson said that preliminary reports indicated that overcrowding in the train, a result of delayed services, had resulted in some passengers being struck by a signal pole and falling off the train.
The incident took place between the Bhandup and Nahur suburban railway stations on Central Railways, he said.
The incident reportedly took place due to overcrowding.
The others were also injured due to falling off the train and have been admitted to various public hospitals where they are undergoing treatment, he said.
“As far as we have assessed the railways are not at fault and the incident took place due to overcrowding in the trains,” the spokesperson said.
The signals and indicators had blanked out since 1 am Wednesday after fire gutted the main signal cabin at Kurla station.
Following a fire on Wednesday, the entire automatic signalling system on the Central Railways collapsed and the railways resorted to running barely half the number of services on manual signals at heavily restricted speeds, leading to delays and cancellations.
Consequently, the task of replacing the electric and signal equipments, panels and related technical works, was taken up on a round-the-clock basis.
Millions of commuters and students in the city have faced a harrowing time since Wednesday.
Railway authorities expect the restoration work to be completed by Friday.
Mumbai’s suburban train services, comprising Western Railway, Central Railway and Harbour lines, which ferry nearly eight million people to and from their homes and offices in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad, are the lifeline of the country’s commercial capital.
–IANS