7 Coaches of Virar-Churchgate Train derail between Andheri-Vile Parle; WR services disrupted

7 Coaches of Virar-Churchgate Train derail between Andheri-Vile Parle; WR services disrupted

Mumbai: It was a striking coincidence, as the Union Minister for Railways Mr.Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu was holding a comprehensive Review Meeting with the General Managers of various zonal Rail systems at Railway Board, New Delhi today, on the frequent accidents and derailments of passenger trains on IR,  thousands of commuters were left in the lurch in Mumbai as several coaches of a Western Railway suburban local train derailed at around 11 am on Tuesday near Vile Parle station.

Seven coaches of a local train today derailed between Andheri and Vile Parle stations in suburban Mumbai, disrupting traffic on the busy route linking Churchgate in South Mumbai to Virar.

The incident took place at 6.55 pm when an up local coming from Bandra derailed while entering platform number two of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) during peak hours, the official said.

Since the train was running at a low speed no injury or casualty has been reported, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Western Railway, Sharat Chandrayan said.

The train coming from Borivili to Churchgate derailed at around 11 AM between Andheri and Vile Parle stations, the second such incident involving local trains in as many days.

A team of engineers and rescue officials have rushed to the spot to restore the services, the CPRO said.

An inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the cause of the derailment, he added.

Meanwhile, trains on Western Railway have been massively disrupted. Trains on platforms 3, 4 and 5 on Andheri station have been cancelled for now.

However trains on the slow track seemed to be running again after a short delay, according to several users on Twitter. Harbour line trains are said to be running as well. A probe has been ordered to ascertain the reason behind the incident, he added.

With spate of train mishaps remaining unabated, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has summoned all zonal heads to brainstorm on Tuesday for remedial actions. The move has come in the backdrop of alarming rise in incidences of train mishaps in the last one year. “The single point agenda of the meeting on Tuesday of the general managers in Indian Railways is to discuss the issue of safety. Besides Mr Prabhu, the full Railway Board will participate in the meeting. The meeting has been called to produce actionable plans with timeline to mitigate the spate of train mishaps,” said a senior ministry official.

There has been no month in the last year when there was no mishap. The rising incidences of train mishaps involved cases of trains washed away in MP to unabated killings of passengers and commuters in accidents at both manned and unmanned level crossings.