PUNE: Due to the rain, several trains coming to Pune station have been either cancelled or diverted to other routes. According to Central Railway authorities, 16 trains which ply on this route were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to the cancellation of the services, several trains originating from stations in southern India and supposed to reach Mumbai were short terminated in Pune due to congestion of traffic on the onward route. 

According to Pune Railway Division spokesperson Manoj Jhawar, due to heavy rainfall compounded with overflowing Ulhas river resulting in waterlogging at Ambernath, several trains were cancelled and diverted.

Train number 11097/98 Pune-Ernakulam-Pune Express, train number 11099 CSMT Mumbai-Pune Sinhagad Express, train number 12123/24 CSMT Mumbai-Pune-CSMT Mumbai Deccan Queen were also cancelled.

This meant passengers who were travelling on board Mumbai-bound trains had to deboard at Pune. According to Central Railway, the normalisation of rail traffic between the two cities will depend on the climate condition on Sunday.

“The cancellations happened due to heavy rains in Mumbai. If it does not rain on Saturday night and Sunday, we will normalise traffic by Sunday afternoon,” said Jhanwar.

Harsha Shah, railway passenger activist, said there have been numerous such incidents since 2005 due to floods in Mumbai affecting train traffic within the city as well as on Pune-Mumbai stretch. While the railway administration should ideally arrange for transportation of its passengers after the services get cancelled or short-terminated, no such measures are taken, she said.