Cloth tied on railway track was marker, ministry clarifies

Mumbai, July 11: After a video of railway employees "tying" a fractured piece of track with a cloth surfaced, Central Railway officials hastened to clarify that the cloth was only used as a marker.

A rail fracture was reported between the suburban Govandi and Mankhurd stations on the Harbour Line at 6.32 PM.

It was repaired within half an hour.

But a video soon began to do rounds, which claimed that a piece of cloth was used to tie up the fractured part.

Railway officials clarified that the cloth only marked the point of fracture, and it was not used to bridge the crack.

"The fish plate was intact....since paint does not stick in the rain, the cloth was put as marking instead of paint....safety was not compromised at all," a statement by the Central Railway said.

Samir Jhaveri, an RTI and passenger rights activist, however, demanded an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety into the matter.

Services on all three lines of the suburban railway in Mumbai -- Western, Central and Harbour -- were severely hit by torrential rains today.