Series of Landslides affects Central Railway services

Series of Landslides affects Central Railway services

Mumbai: Rail and road traffic to and from Mumbai was hit by a series of landslides. While Central Railway services were affected by landslides near Igatpuri on Wednesday, the Mumbai-Agra National Highway witnessed landslides at five places. While road traffic returned to normal in three hours, rail connectivity was badly affected and many trains were rescheduled or diverted.

A landslide was triggered in Igatpuri at 8am, which received 234mm of rainfall in the 24 hours till Wednesday 8.30am. Trains to Mumbai were stopped at nearest stations. “The landslide affected the Up track (towards Mumbai), so trains were diverted to the Down track (towards Nashik),” a railway official said. There is a third track in the ghat section which ensured movement of trains was not completely stopped. The Down track was cleared by 5pm, but work continued on the other track. “Some trains to Mumbai returned either from Igatpuri or Nashik. Arrangements were made for people to continue on by bus till Kasara and other areas,” the official said.

CR officials said the landslide occurred from the site abutting a resort on the hillock.

A CR spokesperson said, “The incident led to short termination of five services including Nagpur-Mumbai Sewagram Express and Aurangabad-Dadar Janshatabdi Express.” Three trains, the Varanasi-Mumbai Mahanagari Express, Patna-Mumbai Express and Gorakhpur-Mumbai Godan Express were diverted via Manmad-Daund-Pune-Kalyan.

Landslides on the highway caused distress to motorists. “A landslide was reported at 8.30am at five spots around 53km from Nashik in the Kasara ghat section,” police said.

Source : RailNews.