MUMBAI: On Thursday evening, chaos ensued on Central Railway’s (CR) Main line following a sudden protest by railway employees at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), which caused suburban services to halt for nearly an hour during peak travel hours. The disruption resulted in a tragic incident — two commuters lost their lives and three others sustained serious injuries after being struck by a local train near Sandhurst Road station, as stranded passengers began to walk along the tracks due to severe overcrowding. Hailey Momaiya, 19, and an unidentified male commuter were declared dead at J J Hospital. Yafisa Chogle, 62, Khusbu Momaiya, 45, and Kaif Chogle, 22, were injured and taken to J J Hospital. Among them, Yafisa and Khusbu were admitted, while Kaif, who experienced abdominal pain, declined admission. Numerous passengers disembarked from trains that had been halted for nearly an hour due to the protest and started walking on the tracks. “These five passengers exited a stalled Up slow local and were walking on the tracks when a down fast local struck them at 6:50 PM,” stated a police official. The flash protest was instigated by an FIR filed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) against two CR engineers concerning the June 9 Mumbra accident, where five commuters had fallen from a moving train.
The protest, which commenced at approximately 4:30 PM, intensified in the CSMT concourse area around 5:30 PM, as employees gathered outside the motormen’s lobby, obstructing the exit for train crew and paralyzing operations. Services gradually resumed at around 6:45 PM; however, the one-hour disruption resulted in thousands being stranded throughout the network. S K Dube, the divisional secretary of the Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS), stated that the protest was organized to contest what the union described as an ‘unjustified FIR’ based on a technically flawed report from VJTI. ‘According to its report, two employees were charged under inappropriate sections. We issued a notice requesting the withdrawal of the FIR,’ he remarked. Dube further noted that the protest was halted following the intervention of senior officials. CR’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Swapnil Nila, commented, ‘Divisional railway manager Hiresh Mina and other senior officials advised the protesters, clarifying that the demonstration was causing inconvenience to commuters, after which the protest was concluded at 6:45 PM.’ As trains remained stationary on the platforms, frustrated passengers at Masjid Bunder and Dockyard Road stations disembarked and began walking along the tracks. The GRP and RPF assigned extra personnel to oversee the crowds but chose not to take action against the demonstrators. “Since 5:41 PM, local residents of CR remained stationary. The Kalyan local scheduled for 5:52 PM eventually left at 6:40 PM,” remarked a commuter. Deepika Shinde, a resident of Kalwa, stated, “There were no announcements, and the crowd was becoming increasingly restless.” Vijeeta Nitesh from Kanjurmarg expressed, “If the unions intended to protest, they ought to have done so at the GRP office rather than disrupting train services.” Mangala Jhingade, who was on her way to Byculla to distribute her daughter’s wedding invitations, commented, “People were leaping onto the tracks. Who will assume responsibility if someone is injured?” The repercussions of the CSMT protest were also evident at Thane, where large crowds congested all platforms. Around 6:30 PM, some passengers tried to initiate a protest at platform number 3 after a local train bound for CSMT was short-terminated at Thane and converted into a Thane-Karjat special. This cancellation frustrated commuters heading to Mumbai, although officials indicated that the decision was necessary to manage the influx of passengers traveling towards Kalyan. “Railway police had to step in and disperse the crowd before permitting the train to leave around 7 PM,” stated a local official, who added that an extra police team was deployed as a precautionary measure. A commuter bound for Kalyan reported that he had waited for nearly an hour before ultimately hiring an autorickshaw at a steep fare to reach his outstation train. Passenger advocates from Thane criticized the protest. “The CRMS obstructing passenger movement and conducting protests at railway stations during peak hours is utterly reprehensible. Such actions not only disrupt vital services but also jeopardize the safety of thousands of daily commuters,” remarked Siddhesh Desai of the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh. A total of 30 trains were canceled, and a similar number were delayed due to the protest. Senior officials from Central Railway questioned the conclusions of the FIR, labeling them as “technically flawed and based on incorrect assumptions.” It was reported that the GRP had enlisted VJTI as a technical consultant; however, the institute was found to be deficient in railway track geometry expertise. Officials from CR refuted the basis of the FIR, asserting, “Had the track been unstable or unwelded, it would have resulted in a derailment rather than passengers simply falling.” An internal investigation by CR determined that the incident in Mumbra transpired when commuters on the footboards of two trains that were passing each other made contact, leading to a chain reaction. An official remarked, “We will challenge this issue in court.”
