Western Railway locals delayed as signal panel catches fire

Aug 17, 2016 |   Age Correspondent | Mumbai

Services on Western Railway (WR) were hit during peak evening hours between Virar and Vasai/Nallasopara station after the signalling panel in Virar caught fire on Tuesday.

According to officials, the main signalling panel that contains the Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) system caught fire at 6.50 pm on Virar’s platform no.1.

“A wire leading to the RRI caught fire, after which the fire reached the RRI panel and all the signals went blank. Without the RRI, we cannot run any trains as there are no signals to guide the motorman,” said a railway official on condition of anonymity.

The trains were finally started at 8.50 pm, two hours after the incident triggering chaos on the WR as commuters were on their way home.

There was also a delay as the trains that had been stationary for long, were unable to restart owing to loss of air in their air-suspension.

“It took around five to 10 minutes for the air to get concentrated back into the suspension and only then the trains were started towards Vasai/Nallasopara and Churchgate,” the official explained.

WR expected around 40 services to be cancelled as a result and had seen a similar incident last week when a discarded cable from outside had fallen on the overhead wire between Grant Road and Charni Road station.