Mumbai: In a much-needed relief to Mumbaikars, heavy rains took a break on Wednesday and the suburban train services resumed functioning, officials said. The local train services were badly affected on a section of the Western Railway (WR) on Tuesday due to inundation of tracks.
The road traffic was moving smoothly after four days of heavy rains, which had crippled life in the megacity.
Trains were packed with commuters since early morning and the WR was running its services on some routes with restricted speed as the tracks were still flooded.
In just 10 days, the city received 864.5 mm rain, which is nearly equal to what it gets in an entire month, the MeT department said.
The local trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, were suspended between Nallasopara and Virar stations on Tuesday, causing huge inconvenience to those travelling on the busy western line.
On Wednesday, scores of commuters flocked the railway stations looking for local trains to reach their destinations, WR chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar said.
"Hence, we decided to start local train services with a cautionary note. At 6.45 am, we started services between Churchgate (in south Mumbai) and Bhayander (Thane district) stations with a restricted speed of 10 kmph," he said.
"Services between Virar and Dahanu Road (in adjoining Palghar district) have also commenced," Bhakar said, adding senior railway officials were keeping a close watch on the restoration efforts.
The railway official said though the water receded on tracks near the Nallasopara station (located in adjoining Palghar district), it was still "not at a safe level" to run trains.
The suburban train services between Bhayander and Virar will commence once the water level on tracks comes down further, he said.