Title - Monsoon rains bring a flood of problems for Central Railway

Monsoon is a yearly headache for Central Railway (CR). This year, it has come with a new set of problems. The torrential rain of June 10 caused waterlogging on tracks in low-lying areas, resulting in cancellation of 117 services. Vidyadhar Malegaonkar, chief public relations officer, said water ingress in point machines resulted in signal failure at Kalyan and Bhandup.

CR has been raising the height of point machines to avoid failures. A point machine or switch machine is the electronic version of the mechanical lever that operates points or turnouts which guide a train from one track to another. A point machine comprises a box containing an electric motor and gears and is typically placed close to tracks. Point machines and track circuits determine the colour or aspect of a signal.

Malegaonkar said last year, track circuits were found lacking when there was unprecedented rain.

Around 40 per cent of low-lying areas, including Kurla, Thane and Parel, have digital axle counters to detect presence of trains in case of waterlogging on tracks.

Asked if nullahs needed to be cleaned and desilted further to curb the problem of track flooding, Malegaonkar said: "BMC paid us Rs 1.8 crore to clean nullahs this year. We have cleaned 100 km of nullahs. A joint inspection was conducted and the work was found to be satisfactory."

He said the drainage capacity of Mumbai was low and railways had to depend on drains to clear tracks.

"If the city floods, there is a high chance railway tracks also will. Water on tracks ultimately has to go into city drains."

An official said stormwater drains in the city could receive only 25 mm per hour. "If it rains for an hour continuously, the city will get flooded. It gets worse during high tide."

A railway official said with concrete increasing the ground level of the city, many stations were getting flooded. "Ghatkopar station was flooded after water from city limits came gushing in. Commuters were seen walking in knee-deep water, while tracks on the slow line submerged on June 10," he said.

"Ever since the construction of Metro on the west side of the station, the road level outside has increased. This causes all the water to rush in."