Four injured as Mumbai local train derails

At least four commuters, including a woman, were injured and Mumbai's lifeline - the suburban trains services - were severely hit when seven coaches of a train derailed on the fast track between Vile Parle and Andheri here on Tuesday, officials said.

The injured commuters were rushed to the BMC's Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle for treatment.

According to officials, the Churchgate-bound train from Virar on the Western Railway (WR) derailed around 11 a.m blocking the two (in Up and Down directions) fast tracks and disrupting the morning peak-hour office-bound commuter rush.

The train left Virar around 9.56 a.m and was jam-packed by the time it reached Andheri when the derailment occurred.

A WR official said a team of officials and engineers immediately rushed to the site to restore train services.

The derailment hit not only suburban train schedules but also long-distance trains from Mumbai going towards Gujarat, New Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.

Officials said several long-distance trains scheduled to depart from Bandra LTT, Dadar and Mumbai Central railway stations were being rescheduled. These included Rajdhani Express, August Kranti Rajdhani Express and Karnavati Express, among others.

Similarly, several inbound trains from destinations across the country were being terminated at Borivali, Vasai or Virar stations.

The WR suburban section suffered cancellation of a number of local train services resulting in massive crowds of commuters at all stations beween Virar and Churchgate in both directions.

The effects of the derailment spilled over to the Central Railway, Harbour Line and the two highways criss-crossing the city and other roads as people made a beeline for alternate modes of transport to reach their destinations.

This is the second derailment on the suburban sector in barely 18 hours.

Late on Monday evening, three coaches of a train from Bandra derailed while entering the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, badly hitting home-bound peak-hour commuters on the Central Railway.

Angry commuters have demanded the resignation of the WR general manager and other officials for such regular incidents of derailment and failing to ensure safety and security of commuters.