Harbour line goes for a toss again

Cascading effect of derailment on Monday and Wednesday

A day after an empty local train derailed near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) here, services on the Harbour line were badly affected during the morning peak hours on Thursday due to bunching of trains. The derailments (on Monday and Wednesday) were because of a defective ‘tongue’ rail. ‘‘During investigation, officials from

CR identified the tongue rail at the point of derailment as defective, ’’ said Dr Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer, Central Railways. The tongue rail, a crucial component responsible for guiding trains to the right track, was found to be faulty, leading to concerns about the safety of train operations in the area.

On Wednesday, two wheels of an empty rake had derailed near Platform No.2 at CSMT, at the same point where a local train derailed on Monday. The Wednesday derailment resulted in delays and cancellations on Thursday, too, causing inconvenience to thousands of Harbour line commuters.

Central Railway (CR) attributed the disruption to the imposition of a speed restriction of 10kmph at the crossover point near CSMT, where the two derailments had occurred. A CR official explained that the speed restriction had been necessitated by safety concerns arising from the recent derailment.

Trains on the Harbour line were running up to 30 minutes behind their usual schedule due to bunching of services.