Mumbai: Over 10,000 railway commuters had tough time reaching their destinations

After the rail roko at Diva and Dombivali railway stations, more than 10,000 commuters heading for different places on Central Railway locals had a difficult time reaching their destinations. Many couldn't reach their work stations and were forced to take either a paid leave or simply sit at home.

One of the commuters, Niraj Singh, an MBA student, who was heading to Thane from Dadar for an interview, said: "As soon as the train crossed Nahur it stopped for more than an hour. I never thought that a broken pantograph would cause so much damage. Not just local residents, even other commuters were hit as they were left stranded for two hours. I got down from the train at Nahur and walked up to Thane, but couldn't make it in time, and so sought another date for my interview. Going back to Dadar took me another three hours as the train I boarded was running slow."

Another commuter who didn't want to be named said: "I went to the railway officer's cabin, but was told to remain outside and speak. Later they summoned police officials to prevent people from directly entering inside to talk to the officer who had no knowledge on how to deal with the issue."

A motormen from Dadar local said: "I feel bad about the commuters. Many had to take leave today. There were many women and children in the crowd and they had problems reaching their destinations. When my train reached Thane, I heard the noise of something falling on the train-shed. Immediately I alerted our officer. When I came out to check who was throwing stones, the station was so crowded that it was difficult to find the culprit. We have send a memo to the station master in this regard, and investigation is on."