Mumbai-Pune train services disrupted by landslide – Times of India

PUNE/MUMBAI: A landslide in the Khandala ghat in the early hours of Friday disrupted the movement on the Pune-Mumbai railway route for eight hours, but the inter-city train services were not affected on Friday. Alert patrolman Motiram Lobhi detected the boulders fallen in Ghat section between Karjat-Lonavala section and blocked the track, besides alerting a locomotive from proceeding ahead on Lonavla-Karjat ghat section at 12.50 am.
The Central Railway’s (CR) restoration team managed to clear the tracks by 8.15am on Friday. At least 10 long-distance trains plying on either way on the Mumbai-Pune route had to be stopped at Lonavala and Karjat stations.
“Many boulders fell on the tracks from a height of around 9 metres at the approach of tunnel number 26 around 12.50am because of the heavy rainfall. Motiram Lobhi, a trackman with CR, first witnessed the incident. A small banker (locomotive) was approaching the area at that time. He immediately stopped it and altered the other officials,” Shivaji Sutar, the chief public relations officer of CR, told TOI.
The landslide spot in Khandala falls under the CR’s Karjat-Lonavala ghat section, also referred as the southeast ghat. The section is prone to landslides during monsoon and this was the first major incident since the beginning of rains this year.
“The railway tracks suffered minor damage. The overhead wires and the mast were also damaged. A boulder special train was brought in for the restoration work with 100 workers,” said another railway official.
“Trains like Vishakhapatnam-Kurla Express, Hyderabad-Mumbai Express, Solapur-Mumbai Express, Kolhapur-Mumbai Express, Gadag-Mumbai Express and Mumbai-Chennai Express were delayed by over an hour due to the landslide. The middle line and the Down line were open for traffic and the trains were slowly directed via them. Hence, the delays were not very significant,” he said.
Officials stated that trains’ movement was normal on Friday, but a close watch was being maintained.