Heavy rains around Mumbai have caused widespread track damage on two out of four routes from the city. This has to a complete shut down of long-distance rail traffic from Mumbai mainly towards Bhopal, Nagpur, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kerala.
Northbound traffic towards Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi via the Western Railway route is running normally.
Track damage has been reported in as many as 15-20 places on the Karjat Lonavala ghat section on the South-East line from Mumbai via Pune towards Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. The North-East line heading to Bhopal, Nagpur, Kolkata and Odisha has also been affected by heavy rainfall between Titwala and Kasara near Mumbai.
Because of the scale of damage, disruption in long-distance train services on the affected routes could continue for days, according to sources.
Many long-distance trains have been cancelled or short terminated as a result. Central Railway has provided helpdesk numbers to assist passengers and buses have been arranged to move them to other locations.
Suburban train services are partly affected.
Konkan Railway has also temporarily stopped services near Ratnagiri as a result of high water levels in a river between Chiplun and Kamathe.
Western Railway has announced the diversion or cancellation of several trains.