Local Train Services on Mumbai’s Central Line Hit As Motormen Busy Attending Colleague’s Funeral

Mumbai: Suburban train services on Central and Harbour lines were delayed between Byculla and Sandhurst Road stations on Saturday evening, inconveniencing commuters as several motormen went to attend the funeral of their colleague, a Railway official said.

The incident, however, raised questions about whether it was a planned protest as motormen in the past had raised the issue of workload.

The delay in services in the evening peak hour left a large number of commuters stranded at CSMT and other stations.

"The services were delayed as several motormen went to attend the funeral of their colleague Muralidhar Sharma in Kalyan who died between Byculla and Sandhurst Road stations on Friday while crossing the tracks," the official said.

Sharma's last rites were supposed to be held at noon but got delayed till 5 pm, he added.

"As a considerable number of motormen attended the funeral, they were unavailable for train operations, causing the delay," he said.

About 147 trains, including 88 local train services, were cancelled, the official added.

He also said the services were not disrupted but delayed. The situation is slowly becoming normal.

Arundhati P, a resident of suburban Mulund in Thane, told PTI that she had to wait 40 minutes at CSMT before boarding an overcrowded local train.