Mumbai: Central, Harbour lines come to a standstill as angry passengers protest delays

Mumbai, Jan 2: Thousands of office-goers in Mumbai were stranded on Friday morning as services on the busy suburban Central Railways were disrupted by protests between Diva and Mumbra. Protesting against the delayed services at 8:30 am hundreds of agitators resorted to stone pelting and blocked the track.

As per reports, police had to resort to lathicharge to forcefully remove the agitators from the tracks. The agitators also threw ticket vending machines and ticket window on the track at Dombivali station. The protesters even torched vehicles, including a police van.

As per a TOI report, the problem started with a technical fault in the pantograph of a local train near Thakurli station and this led to bunching of trains and delays of more than half an hour. As crowds swelled on the platforms, the passengers went berserk and a section of commuters resorted to rail roko at Diva station.

Services on the harbour line came to a standstill after motormen on the Central Railways reportedly refused to operate trains due to security reasons.

The services were delayed due to disruption in power supply in the overhead equipment (OHE) wire during the peak hours.

Local trains are said to be Mumbai's lifeline as lakhs of people use these trains to commute on a daily basis.

OneIndia News