Why May 26 Rains Disrupted Local Train Services In Central Line, and Not Western Line

Due to the heavy downpour in the city on Monday, water accumulation on the tracks—exceeding approximately eight inches—brought Central Railway services to a standstill, causing severe inconvenience to commuters. In contrast, none of the Western Railway stations experienced waterlogging on the tracks. This discrepancy led many passengers to question: Why was Western Railway able to manage the situation while Central Railway failed?  Thanks to pre-monsoon drain cleaning and other precautionary measures, Western Railway successfully passed the first major test of the monsoon season, ensuring minimal disruption to commuters. However, passengers on Central Railway had to face two days of significant inconvenience. Services on the Harbour line were temporarily suspended due to waterlogging on the tracks.

Western Railway’s Preparedness: Micro-Tunneling and Drainage Upgrades

Western Railway managed to prevent track flooding through multiple initiatives—micro-tunneling projects, extensive drainage system repairs, construction of new drainage infrastructure along tracks, thorough nullah cleaning, installation of high-capacity pumps, and building protective walls near drainage paths. Additionally, automatic digital rain gauges have been installed between Churchgate and Virar. These devices monitor temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and direction, providing digital updates to section engineers in real-time.

Central Railway’s Response Hampered by Sudden Rain Alert Upgrade

According to railway officials, all infrastructure works on Central Railway were in their final stages, and the administration was not fully prepared to handle the sudden heavy rainfall on Monday. Although the Meteorological Department initially issued a ‘Yellow Alert,’ it was abruptly upgraded to a ‘Red Alert,’ catching the system off-guard.

As a result, municipal and railway staff could not be deployed immediately to activate necessary systems. Although pumping stations had been set up at CSMT and Byculla, Central Railway did not have enough time to activate them before the situation worsened. The pumping station was finally started at 11:30 a.m., but it had to be shut down again shortly due to high tide, which led to the closure of the floodgates. Consequently, water remained stagnant on the tracks for a prolonged period, severely impacting services.