Birds Cause Chaos: Central Line Disruption Cancels Over 20 Mumbai Trains

On Monday afternoon, Central Railway (CR) stations in Mumbai experienced severe overcrowding due to a significant disruption. This event, which took place during the evening rush hour, led to the cancellation of over 20 services by press time.

CR attributed the disruption to a bird fault that caused a short circuit and the snapping of overhead wires at Thakurli. Operations were severely impacted between 2:28 pm and 5:03 pm.

A CR spokesperson explained in Mid-day, "We are trying to find the exact reason for the snapping of wires. Prima facie, it looks like some obstruction or multiple birds on the overhead equipment (OHE) caused a short circuit and snapping of wires."

Divisional Railway Manager Rajneesh Goyal confirmed that the disruption was indeed due to a bird fault.

Electrical experts consulted by Mid-day suggested that it is possible a bird was carrying a metal wire. "One end of the metal wire might have touched a part connected to neutral or earth, while the other part touched the live 25kV AC OHE. The unfortunate bird would have been electrocuted mid-air. Another possibility is that if there were multiple birds, they might have simultaneously touched two high-potential difference points on the AC OHE," one expert elaborated.

A railway employee recalled a similar incident in Mid-day, "I encountered a similar incident on the Howrah-Burdwan mainline a few years ago. Thankfully, the bird strike didn't snap the OHE but broke two out of four pantographs of an EMU train."

The disruption began with a series of electrical sparks near Thakurli station, leading to the suspension of services. Commuter Rajveer Kumar recounted, "Crowds just kept on piling up but there were no trains at all."

Restoration work was promptly undertaken at Thakurli. Following inspection and repairs, the Up local line was declared safe at 3:35 pm.

The restoration of the broken OHE was carried out by a breakdown gang, and a block was operated between Diwa and Kalyan from 3:20 pm to 4:04 pm on both fast lines. Breakdown gangs of adequate strength are usually stationed at selected points to handle OHE failures, especially during peak traffic hours.