Title - Smoother ride for Mumbai commuters today after chaos on Mumbai's Central Railway line

Mumbai:  After facing a harrowing time on Wednesday, commuters in Mumbai can expect a relatively smoother ride today. While trains are still running late, yesterday's visible chaos that was caused by the sudden disruption in services is not being felt today. Many commuters, expecting disruption in the train services on Mumbai's Central Railway line, have made alternative arrangements.

The railway authorities said that the situation is expected to return to normal by tomorrow. Nearly 60 per cent of the breakdown has been repaired after a fire in the signalling cabins at Kurla and Vidyavihar stations on Tuesday night damaged the equipment.

Around 40 lakh commuters travel on this route every day, and to manage the delays, the city bus service BEST has been asked to ply more buses. Also, the other two rail lines have been asked to press in more services to connect nodal stations.

Yesterday, the 45-minute delay in the services and the cancellations of several trains led to a loss of Rs. 1 crore for Mumbai's Central Railway. It also led to chaos on the city's roads with several regular commuters forced to take out their cars or hire cabs, causing massive jams at crucial junctions like the Eastern Express Highway.

Bearing the brunt, the people of Mumbai expressed their anger over the near-breakdown situation.

''Nothing has been told to us. The way we are commuting, people are going to die,'' said a commuter.

The Central Railways is the busiest of the three critical local rail lines that connect the island city to its suburbs. It connects people from far flung suburbs of central Mumbai like Kalyan, Dombivali, Thane to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.