Mumbai: Suburban services delayed on Central Railway's main line due to technical snag in local train

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Suburban services were delayed on the Central Railway's main line on Wednesday morning by 10-15 minutes due to a technical snag in a local train in Mumbai, alarm chain pulling in an express train and a woman passenger's attempt to forcefully travel in the motorman's cabin of another local train, officials told news agency PTI.

A fast local train on way to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai was held up in Bhandup-Nahur section for 20 minutes due to a technical snag, Central Railway's chief public relations officer Dr Shivraj Manaspure told PTI.

Besides, an alarm chain pulling in the Solapur-CSMT Express led to halting of the train at Badlapur station in neighbouring Thane district, he said.

In another incident, a woman passenger boarded the motorman's cabin in a CSMT-bound Khopoli local train at Diva station in Thane district, causing detention of trains between 6.52 am to 7.05 am, the official told PTI.

Dr Shivraj Manaspure told PTI that as the woman commuter refused to de-board the motorman's cabin for a long time, it led to disruption of the suburban train operations.

"We appeal to the public not to pull the alarm chain and not to board the cabin of motorman or guard," he told PTI.

The Central Railway daily ferries around 35 lakh commuters on its suburban network. Trains on its main line operate from CSMT to Kasara (in Thane district) and Khopoli (in Raigad district).

Meanwhile, The drivers of the private bus operators hired by BEST announced on Tuesday afternoon their decision to call off their strike claiming that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has assured them of fulfilling their salary hike and other demands.

The move by the contractual staffers will provide relief to lakhs of bus commuters as the agitation had entered the seventh day on Tuesday morning with 551 of the 1,600 buses wet-leased by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) remaining off roads.

The BEST undertaking, which provides public bus services in Mumbai and neighbouring areas, has hired more than 1,600 buses from seven contractors on a wet lease model, under which the vehicle ownership, maintenance, fuel and driver costs are the responsibility of the private operator.

The public transport body ferries more than 30 lakh commuters on its buses in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayander cities with its fleet of more than 3,100 buses, of which it owns less than 1,400 buses.

(With inputs from PTI)