Motorman jumps signal near Chembur; commuters protest delay

Suburban commuters today came on to the tracks at Chembur station here protesting inordinate delays after a motorman overshot a signal there resulting in bunching of trains.
According to a senior railway official, agitating passengers came on to the tracks at Chembur station and raised slogans demanding that trains be operated on time.
The latest disruption comes after local train services on both up and down slow line between CST and Wadala stations of Harbour line were shut for three days as part of the megablock to undertake extension work on platforms.
"After completion of the successful mega block, services had begun smoothly but around 7.33 AM, a motorman overshot the signal (near Chembur) that led to delay in services. This irked passengers, who then filled the tracks and began protesting. This caused bunching of trains, disruption and delay by another 15-20 minutes," the official added.

He, however, said that barring this incident, the entire mega block exercise was extremely successful.
To accommodate 12 car local trains, the CR carried out major infrastructure work at CST following which a mega block was operated on both up and down slow routes between CST and Wadala stations on the Harbour line since Friday.

The CR aims to start the 12-car service on Harbour line from June this year to deal with increasing traffic on the route, the official said.
"We are set to take another round of mega block in March for the DC-AC conversion work. This would be an additional advantage to our Harbour line commuters," Chief PRO Narendra Patil said.

The Harbour line mainly operates between CST-Panvel, CST-Andheri and CST-Borivali railway routes.