Railway stations on the Central line in Thane witnessed a heavy crowd during the morning hours on April 13 as over 100 train services were impacted, including delays in 82 services and resulted in cancellation of 40 trains. The Railway authorities had to resort to the paper chit sanction for clearance of each train after some miscreants tampered with a signal box at Panvel and damaged the cables. The signal box was restored by 7:05am.
According to the Indian Railway regulations, if there is a signal failure, the trains need to be cleared by Paper Line Clears, where every train driver has to get a written authority from the station master to proceed the train with passengers cautiously until the restoration of services.
During such incidents when cables are tampered or stolen, the signalling and telecommunication systems of railway networks fail to work due to which trains are put on halt. This precautionary measure is taken for the safety of passengers and railway staff, however, it often leads to delay in services.
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There have been at least two such incidents that take place every month on Central Railway, Mumbai, that lead to long waiting hours and often result in cancellation of trains. Railways has now stepped-up intelligence and security to stop the menace.
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