Heavy rainfall that started on July 6, led to numerous landslides occurring between Karjat and Lonavala stations that caused severe damage to all three rail lines. Most of the landslides took place at the Thakurwadi and Monkey Hill cabins on Bhor Ghat.
Officials reported that even though repair work is going on in the region, tough conditions make it harder to return to normal operations.
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In a statement, Central Railway mentioned that it has pulled 30 services off the table, which included 14 daily ones, eight trains for limited dates, and eight specials.
The cancellation involved trains like the Deccan Queen, Deccan Express, Intercity Express trains between Mumbai and Pune, CSMT-Hyderabad Express, Chennai Egmore Superfast Mail, and Hubbali-Dadar Express that will remain cancelled from July 10 to July 17.
Aside from that, trains such as Mahalaxmi Express, Jodhpur-Hadapsar Express, Dadar-Satara Express, and Dadar-Sainagar Shirdi Express will also be suspended on their respective days.In addition, a number of special trains linking Mumbai and Pune with Gorakhpur, Ghazipur City, and Hazrat Nizamuddin have been suspended according to the official statement.
The Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated on Thursday that landslide incidents had been “heavy” and had caused “significant” destruction to the railway tracks and nearby areas while inspecting the restoration operations.
In addition, the railway route between Mumbai and Pune features three railway tracks in a tricky place called Bhor Ghat or Khandala Ghat — the Up Line (towards Mumbai) , the Down Line (towards Pune), and the Middle Line.
According to reports, transporting construction material to several sites is a challenge, while the rail operator is working with other agencies such as district administration and forest department to restore the network as quickly as possible.
As per the officials, one of the three railway lines has been restored while the other two lines require work to be done.
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The officials have noted that senior officials on the ground closely supervise the restoration work and do everything possible to get the train services back to normal run.
Passengers are advised to call the railway hotline to get timely information regarding train services, as well as to use the NTES app. In addition, the information regarding train services will be published through official social media channels.