In Pics: Angry protesters block tracks at Titwala, bring CR services to halt

Angry commuters staged a protest at Titwala Railway Station on the Central line, bringing train services on the Kalyan-Kasara route to a halt early Wednesday morning. The commuters were agitated due to a delayed local.

The protest started after an outstation train was given priority over a CST-bound local, scheduled to arrive at 5:55 am.

Following the delay, dozens of angry commuters took to the tracks and stopped both north and south-bound services. The blockage delayed several local and outstation trains.

The agitation led to the suspension of both up and down train services between the Kalyan-Kasara route. Meanwhile, services on the Karjat-Kalyan-CST route were unaffected and continued to run smoothly.

Overall, CR services were delayed by around 30 minutes, even as authorities appealed to passengers at Titwala station to board the train so that suburban services could resume.

Both Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) were mobilised for crowd control. The tracks were cleared around 8:50 am, when an outstation train was allowed to pass.

Services on the Kalyan-Kasara route were restored at 8:55 am, CR said.

Since thousands of passengers were stranded at the stations following the protest, there was overcrowding in the subsequent locals. The situation is expected to normalize in a few hours.

This is the second time CR services have been brought to a halt due to a protest by commuters. Back in August, hundreds of passengers had staged a ‘rail roko’ at Badlapur station to protest against the regular delay of CR services, following which rail authorities assured passengers of improving punctuality.

Video:

Agitated local train passengers bring Central Rail service in Titwala » Agitation now taken back. pic.twitter.com/4zy23xuTNE

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