CSMT protest chaos: Railway workers’ stir sparks rush-hour mayhem; 2 commuters mowed down by passing trai
The crowd at CSMT at 6.58pm. The protest by CR employees began around 4.30pm and gained momentum an hour later as they blocked the motormen’s lobby, leading to services being stopped for over an hour MUMBAI: Chaos gripped Central Railway’s (CR) Main line on Thursday evening after a flash protest by railway employees at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) brought suburban services to a standstill for nearly an hour during peak travel time. The disruption had a tragic fallout — two commuters lost their lives and three more sustained serious injuries after being hit by a local train near Sandhurst Road station, as stranded passengers began walking along the tracks amid severe overcrowding.Hailey Momaiya, 19, and an unknown male commuter were pronounced dead at J J Hospital.Yafisa Chogle, 62, Khusbu Momaiya, 45, and Kaif Chogle, 22, suffered injuries and were brought to J J Hospital. Of these, Yafisa and Khusbu were admitted while Kaif who had suffered pain in the abdomen, refused admission.Scores of passengers got down from trains that had halted for nearly an hour as a result of the protest and started to walk on tracks. “These five passengers got off a stalled Up slow local and were walking on the tracks when a down fast local hit them at 6.50pm,” said a police official.Also read: Overcrowded trains, jam-packed stations: How commuters during peak hours were forced onto tracks at CSMT; 2 killedThe flash protest was triggered by an FIR lodged by the Government Railway Police (GRP) against two CR engineers in connection with the June 9 Mumbra accident, in which five commuters had fallen from a moving train.The agitation, which began around 4.30pm, gathered momentum in the CSMT concourse area around 5.30pm, when employees assembled outside the motormen’s lobby, blocking the exit of train crew and paralysing operations. Services gradually resumed around 6.45pm, but the one-hour disruption left thousands stranded across the network.S K Dube, divisional secretary of the Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS), said the agitation was held to oppose what the union termed an “unjustified FIR” based on a technically flawed report of VJTI. “Based on its report, two employees were booked under inappropriate sections. We served a notice demanding that the FIR be withdrawn,” he said.Dube added that the protest was suspended following intervention by senior officials. CR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila said, “Divisional railway manager Hiresh Mina and other senior officials counselled the agitators, explaining that the protest was inconveniencing commuters, after which the agitation was called off at 6.45pm.”As trains stood still on platforms, angry passengers at Masjid Bunder and Dockyard Road stations alighted and began walking on the tracks. The GRP and RPF deployed additional personnel to manage crowds but refrained from taking action against the protesters. “Since 5.41pm, CR locals were standing still. The 5.52pm Kalyan local finally departed at 6.40pm,” said a commuter.Deepika Shinde, a Kalwa resident, said, “There were no announcements and people were getting restless.”Vijeeta Nitesh from Kanjurmarg added, “If the unions wanted to protest, they should have done it at the GRP office, not by halting trains.”Mangala Jhingade, who was headed to Byculla to distribute her daughter’s wedding invitations, said, “People were jumping onto the tracks. Who will take responsibility if someone gets hurt?”The impact of the CSMT protest was also felt at Thane, where massive crowds choked all platforms. Around 6.30pm, some passengers attempted to stage a protest at platform number 3 after a CSMT-bound local was short-terminated at Thane and converted into a Thane-Karjat special. The cancellation angered Mumbai-bound commuters, though officials said the move was essential to manage the rush of passengers travelling towards Kalyan.“Railway police had to intervene and disperse the crowd before allowing the train to depart around 7pm,” said a local official, adding that an additional police team was deployed as a safety measure.A Kalyan-bound commuter said he had waited nearly an hour before finally hiring an autorickshaw at an exorbitant fare to reach his outstation train.Passenger activists from Thane condemned the protest. “The CRMS obstructing passenger movement and staging protests at railway stations during peak hours is highly condemnable. Such actions not only disrupt essential services but also endanger the lives of thousands of daily commuters,” said Siddhesh Desai of the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.A total of 30 trains were cancelled and a similar number delayed due to the protest.Senior Central Railway officials questioned the FIR’s conclusions, calling them “technically flawed and based on wrong presumptions”. They said the GRP had engaged VJTI as a technical expert, but the institute lacked expertise in railway track geometry.CR officials countered the FIR’s premise, stating, “If the track had been unstable or unwelded, it would have caused a derailment, not passengers falling.” An internal CR inquiry concluded that the Mumbra incident occurred when commuters standing on the footboards of two passing trains brushed against each other, causing a chain reaction. “We will contest the matter in court,” an official said.
