Mumbai: 2 Trains Crash at Matunga Railway Station
Two long-distance trains, Gadag Express and Chalukya Puducheri Express collided near Matunga railway station in Mumbai on 15 April evening.
Local trains are the lifeline of Mumbai. Lakhs of Mumbaikars use trains to commute to their workplaces. Mumbai locals are famous for their punctuality and help passengers reach their offices on time. However, the derailment of the train caused many trains to be delayed. There was a huge rush at the railway stations. Passengers were stuck in the train for hours with little to no movement of the trains. Many reached their offices late, had to endure salary cuts from their strict bosses and a lot of work in Mumbai got delayed.
So what was the reason for this?
Two long-distance trains, Gadag Express which runs between CSMT, Mumbai and Gadag Junction, Karnataka and Chalukya Puducheri Express which runs between Dadar and Pondicherry collided near Matunga railway station in Mumbai on Friday 15 April evening 9.45 pm. The collision resulted in the derailment of three coaches of Chalukya Puducheri express. A Central Railway official said the Chalukya Express was moving slowly after leaving Dadar. Gadag Express came on the same track at a speed, ramming into the rear coaches of Chalukya Express. The official said a red signal was given to Gadag Express but the train did not stop.
There have been no injuries and the Indian Railways have ordered a strict high-level probe into the incident.
Here is an interesting fact. Central & Western Line trains in Mumbai have a technology called Auxiliary Warning System (AWS). The device, through a series of magnets and sensors, does not allow the train to jump a red light. This is why in Mumbai there are rare cases of train collisions. The local trains may get derailed or have other accidents but collisions are very very rare. Once a local train had collided but it was found that the AWS was not working faulty and the motorman switched the sensor off. This is why the train collided. However, the AWS is not installed in all express trains. The Indian Railways is still working on it. This may be the reason for the collision.
There is another news about a passenger's mobile phone catching fire mid-air on IndiGo's Dibrugarh-Delhi flight on Thursday but the cabin crew doused it with the help of a fire extinguisher. There was no injury to any passenger or cabin crew member due to this incident and the flight landed safely in Delhi. According to Indigo, the fire happened because of the battery overheating.
