Railways in knots as workers tie ‘broken’ Mumbai tracks with cloth

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 11

A video of Central Railway employees ‘tying’ a rag on a broken railway track between the Govandi and Mankhurd stations in Mumbai just before a crowded train passed over it has sent shockwaves among commuters apart from embarrassing the railway establishment.

Shortly after the video went viral on social media on Tuesday, CR officials termed it fake. However, by Wednesday, the CR went on a damage control mode stating that the cloth tied to the broken rail track was only a marker to highlight the point of fracture. Officials then went on to say that heavy rains in Mumbai would have caused the paint, used normally to highlight the point of fracture on train tracks, to be washed away and hence the rag was tied as a marker.

The incident, they said, happened at around 6.32 pm when trains carry peak traffic. Railway officials also said that passenger safety was not compromised even after at least one train was seen passing on the broken track in the video clip. In a statement, the CR said the fish plate was intact and there was no danger of a train derailing.

Later in the evening, train services between the two stations on CR’s Harbour Line were suspended for around 30 minutes till repairs were carried out, officials said. Passenger activists are demanding that the Commissioner of Railway Safety carry out an inquiry into the incident. 

Financial capital back on its feet

With rains taking a break on Wednesday, Mumbai was back on its feet, though various agencies like National Disaster Response Force and Navy, apart from police and fire brigade, were called in to rescue people trapped in flooded areas.