Railway unions stop local trains at CSMT to oppose FIR against engineers in accident case

Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) Unions representing Central Railway’s employees stopped suburban local train operations at the busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus for nearly an hour on Thursday evening to oppose the FIR against engineers in the Mumbra accident case.

Train services resumed after senior officials assured the protesters that they would pursue the matter with the state authorities.

Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila told PTI that the employees protesting at CSMT, where daily passenger footfall touches several lakhs, did not allow motormen and train managers to operate trains between 5.50 pm and 6.45 pm.

Commuters filled the CSMT premises as they waited for train services to resume. Several of them rushed to the Metro-3 station in the vicinity.

“A friend from the UK is here, and we wanted to board a local train. We came out of the CSMT after waiting for trains to start for nearly 20 minutes,” said Anshuman R, a Thane resident.

The protesters were pacified and local train services resumed after about an hour, said Nila.

The Government Railway Police have registered an FIR against two railway engineers in the June 9 Mumbra train accident, which claimed five lives.

The GRP action prompted the National Railway Mazdoor Union and Central Railway Mazdoor Union to stage the protest on Thursday, demanding the FIR be revoked.

The probe into the June 9 Mumbra train accident, which claimed five lives, has found that railway staffers had replaced a piece of track involved in the incident four days prior to it, but left it unwelded, which resulted in the tragedy. PTI KK KRK NR