Trains delayed, traffic hit as BJP workers pour in for rally in Mumbai

BJP President Amit Shah (R) with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis arrives to attend BJP Core Committee meeting in Mumbai on late Thursday. Pic/PTI

Several trains arrived late in Mumbai after BJP workers, being ferried in special services for the party's 38th Foundation Day rally at BKC, insisted on unscheduled halts enroute, Western Railway officials on condition of anonymity said on Friday. The BJP, in order to bring in as many workers as
possible for its rally, had chartered 28 trains, with 11 of them terminating on WR and 17 on CR, said officials.

However, BJP workers alleged that their special trains were late by two to five hours as the Railways did not run them on priority. Rail activist Subhash Gupta, who was tasked with the railway arrangement by the BJP, confirmed that trains came in late but refused to blame the Railways. "It is true that all the trains arrived late on Central and Western Railways. But we should not blame the Railways as special trains are run for a specific purpose and they are operated in a certain manner so that the schedules of regular trains are not hit or compromised," Gupta said.

Gupta, a former member of the National Railway Users Consultative Committee, praised the Railways for ensuring that regular trains were not delayed because of the special services. Gupta informed that a train, scheduled to arrive in Bandra station here at 8am, arrived at 1pm. Railway officials attributed this delay to passengers demanding an unscheduled and longer halt at Nandurbar station.

Motorists had a tough time during morning rush hour, especially on the arterial Western Express Highway between Andheri and Bandra, as party workers coming in for the rally by road contributed to massive traffic snarls. The Traffic Police had earlier issued an advisory asking people to avoid, as far as possible, some arterial roads like Santa Cruz Chembur Link Road (SCLR), Surve junction on LBS Road, Sion Junction, Dharavi T Junction, Hansbhugra Marg, CST Road, Nehru Road till Ambedkar Junction and Sharadadevi Road.

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