India News | Local Train Services on Mumbai's Central Line Hit as Motormen Busy Attending Colleague's Funeral

Mumbai, Feb 10 (PTI) Suburban train services on Central and Harbour lines were delayed between Byculla and Sandhurst Road stations on Saturday evening, inconveniencing commuters as several motormen went to attend the funeral of their colleague, a Railway official said.

The incident, however, raised questions about whether it was a planned protest as motormen in the past had raised the issue of workload.

Also Read | Indian Space Sector To Be Turned Into Business Activity Instead of Government Programme, Says ISRO Chairman S Somanath.

The delay in services in the evening peak hour left a large number of commuters stranded at CSMT and other stations.

"The services were delayed as several motormen went to attend the funeral of their colleague Muralidhar Sharma in Kalyan who died between Byculla and Sandhurst Road stations on Friday while crossing the tracks," the official said.

Also Read | Tripura: Elephant Dies After Being Hit by Speeding Train in Khowai District.

Sharma's last rites were supposed to be held at noon but got delayed till 5 pm, he added.

"As a considerable number of motormen attended the funeral, they were unavailable for train operations, causing the delay," he said.

About 147 trains, including 88 local train services, were cancelled, the official added.

He also said the services were not disrupted but delayed. The situation is slowly becoming normal.

Arundhati P, a resident of suburban Mulund in Thane, told PTI that she had to wait 40 minutes at CSMT before boarding an overcrowded local train.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)