Train Derailment: Railway Services Between Gujarat and Mumbai Disrupted for Second Day

AHMEDABAD,GUJARAT : Train services between Gujarat and Mumbai remained disrupted for the second consecutive day on Wednesday following a goods train derailment near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening. The disruption has left tens of thousands of passengers stranded, with many forced to spend the night waiting at railway stations in Vapi and Valsad.

The derailment incident occurred when several coaches of a goods train traveling from Gujarat to Mumbai went off the tracks near Palghar. The aftermath has significantly impacted the railway traffic on the busy Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. As a result, trains were either delayed, cancelled, or short-terminated, causing major inconveniences for passengers.

On Wednesday morning, passengers were still facing delays and cancellations. By 10 am, train movements had not yet resumed, leaving many stranded at Vapi railway station. Gradually, however, railway operations began to resume, providing some relief to the stranded passengers.

Several trains were short-terminated at various points along the route. The 09160 Valsad-Bandra Terminus Express was short-terminated at Umargaon Road, the 09186 Kanpur-Mumbai Central Express at Sachin, the 09056 Udhana-Bandra Terminus Express at Bhilad, the 12936 Surat-Bandra Terminus Express at Vapi, the 19426 Nandurbar-Borivali Express at Valsad, and the 19102 Surat-Virar Express at Bilimora. Additionally, the 09180 Surat-Virar Express was short-terminated at Udhana.

According to Western Railway, train number 12936 Surat-Mumbai Intercity was short-terminated at Vapi. Other long-distance trains, such as the 16505 Gandhidham-SBC Express, the 12432 Nizamuddin-Trivandrum Rajdhani Express, and the 19260 Bhavnagar-Kochuveli Express, were diverted via Surat-Udhana-Jalgaon-Kalyan. This diversion has also affected the local train services in Mumbai, with six up and five down Dahanu local trains cancelled following the accident.

Passengers at Vapi and Valsad railway stations described their ordeal as frustrating and exhausting. Many had to spend the entire night at the stations without clear information about when the services would resume. One passenger at Vapi station remarked, “We have been here all night, waiting for updates. The lack of information and facilities has made the situation even more difficult.”

Western Railway officials stated that efforts to restore normal train services were ongoing. The work to put the derailed coaches back on the tracks was in progress, which has been a complex and time-consuming task. As of Wednesday afternoon, rail traffic had started to move at a slow pace, but full normalcy was yet to be achieved.