Mumbai: 50 Western Railway services delayed over dangling iron rod

It took the WR staff 10 minutes to remove the rod, but power to the overhead wires had to be shut

The Western Railway, on Thursday, got another bridge scare after an iron rod from the waterpipe bridge abutting Gokhale bridge, in Andheri, was found dangling over the railway track. Around 50 train services were delayed and 14 were cancelled as the railways had to shut down a section of tracks on the fast line to remove it.

After the rod was noticed by railway employees, services on the Up and Down fast lines were stopped as a precautionary measure and power switched off in the overhead wires. The power was switched off only between 12.25pm and 12.36pm, but it led to a bunching effect on all trains, and delays stretched from 45 minutes to an hour owing to the issue. Commuters in stranded trains were seen walking on the tracks.

All fast trains were diverted between Goregaon and Santacruz stations till the rod was removed by engineers of the Mumbai division, who also conducted an inspection of the bridge.

"The rod was a part of the base of the bridge and it had come loose," a senior official said. "Due to the disruption, 14 suburban services were cancelled and around 50 were delayed," a WR spokesperson said. The Western Railway along with IIT and the BMC has been conducting structural audits of all Road Over Bridges in its suburban section. Officials said work on this particular bridge was also under process.

Also read: Mumbai: WR finally begins audit of bridges after Andheri collapse

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