Due to the continuous rain in Mumbai and its suburbs for the past 3 days, there has been a significant impact on rail and air transport. On Tuesday morning, services on the CSMT-Thane route of the Central Railway were completely halted. Obstacles had arisen on this route since 4 AM. The situation became serious due to technical faults between Shahad-Ambivli and water accumulation on the tracks. According to officials, the maximum water level for locals is 6 inches, but in some places, it reached up to 19 inches, necessitating the suspension of services.
On the Central Railway, where approximately 1,810 locals run daily, more than 800 trains were canceled by 11 AM. Additionally, 16 express trains ran late, 14 were completely canceled, and 5 trains were short-terminated. For the convenience of passengers, helpdesks were set up at major stations like CSMT, Thane, Dadar, and Vashi. The Western Railway also felt the impact of the rain. 'Point failure' occurred due to waterlogging in areas like Dadar, Matunga Road, Mahim, Vasai, Nalasopara, and Naigaon. As a result, some trains were canceled while others ran at a slow pace. Meanwhile, with the locals halted, many passengers resorted to walking directly on the railway tracks.
The heavy rain also affected airline services. In the last 48 hours, more than 250 flights were delayed. Among them, 155 were departing from Mumbai and 102 were arriving flights. Due to low visibility and water accumulation on the runway, 8 flights had to be diverted to Ahmedabad and Surat. Some flights had to circle in a 'holding pattern' in the sky for more than 45 minutes. After the rain subsided by the evening, the delay in flights was limited to 20-25 minutes. Another incident occurred at Mumbai airport. An empty Indigo bus used for transporting passengers suddenly caught fire. The fire brigade immediately brought the fire under control. There were no casualties.
Due to the disruption of railway services, thousands of passengers relied on BEST buses. There was a huge crowd at Dadar TT bus station. Some passengers were heading towards Chembur, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli. Traffic was altered on many bus routes due to waterlogging. Some buses were taking detours to reach their destinations. After receiving the news of a holiday declared for office-goers who had left in the morning, they had to make the return journey. However, their journey became even more arduous due to the disruption of railway services and waterlogging on the roads.
Due to continuous rain, life in Mumbai has been disrupted. Major obstacles have arisen in local, air, and road transport, causing significant inconvenience to citizens. Although the railway administration and airlines have issued helpdesks and advisories to manage the situation, it seems unlikely that the troubles of travelers will lessen until the weather normalizes.