Western Railway cancels train services as Vayu prepares to make landfall

Mumba

Western Railway cancels train services as Vayu prepares to make landfall

Riding the wave: Tourists venture into the sea during high tide at Sangam beach in Sindhudurg district.

Riding the wave: Tourists venture into the sea during high tide at Sangam beach in Sindhudurg district.   | Photo Credit: Rajendra Gawankar

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Roads and Rails

As a precautionary measure, all passenger railway services starting from or passing through affected areas will be suspended till Friday morning

As cyclonic storm Vayu approaches the western coast, the Western Railway (WR) has cancelled 70 long-distance trains and short terminated 28 trains. As a precautionary measure, the WR decided to suspend all passenger railway services starting from or passing through affected areas between 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday morning.

Special services

Special services were deployed from Veraval, Okha, Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj and Gandhidham to enable evacuation. The first such service ran from Okha at 5.45 p.m. Other trains operated from Mahuva, Veraval and Porbandar. In order to assist in the evacuation efforts, the WR operated three scheduled services after 6 p.m. on Wednesday: 19116 Bhuj-Dadar, 22956 Bhuj-Bandra Terminus, 23973 Gandhidham-Puri. The cancelled trains include trains that originate and terminate in Gujarat after 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

Long-distance trains already on their way to Gujarat from Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will be terminated at Rajkot, Ahmedabad, and Abu Road.

Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer, WR, said, “We have made adequate arrangements at stations to cater to the extra passengers coming in from other States and evacuated from unsafe regions. The emergency control office at our head quarters and divisional offices are being manned 24x7.”

The WR has shifted the coaching stock located at depots and station yards at coastal areas to safe locations. Mr. Bhakar said the WR will be deploying special trains with six to 10 coaches in case of emergency.

Minor accident

Gusty winds led to suspension of services between Dahanu and Virar. There was a minor accident while launching girders for a railway over bridge. According to railway officials, there was a mega block between Gholavad and Umbergaon station to launch the girders. “Due to extreme windy conditions, one of the girders dislocated. The mega block as a result had to be extended upto 7.45 p.m.,” a senior railway official said.

Services across the section were suspended between Virar and Valsad and several suburban services were cancelled. Ten long-distance passenger trains were rescheduled to depart from Mumbai and reached Surat only after 10 p.m.

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