Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express derails, peak morning hour office travel hit

MUMBAI: Peak hour office travel by suburban trains has been badly hit for those staying beyond Kalyan as an engine plus nine coaches of Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express derailed early morning on Tuesday. has also resulted in delays of other trains arriving from Nagpur and Nashik.The Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto derailed between Vasind and Asangaon stations at 6.30 AM.While the exact cause of the derailment is not yet clear, sources said it is suspected that the derailment occurred due to landslide due to heavy rains in the Kasara Ghats section since the past three days. Officials, however, said the actual cause will be ascertained after an inquiry.Said a senior CR official : "The cause of the derailment is a sudden landslide which occurred due to heavy rains. The engine driver did excellent job of applying emergency breaks. As far as preliminary inquiry is concerned, we have not come across any major injuries. The stranded passengers are being shifted to destination by buses and taxis."The doctors have reached the site along with officials. The accident relief train had left Kalyan and will be reaching the site. Railways has tied up with the state government to provide bus services to ferry the stranded passengers along with luggage to their destination," said CR chief spokesperson Sunil Udasi, adding that it was yet to be ascertained if anybody was seriously injured.One board member, general manager and DRM ordered to reach derailment site to provide extensive help to passengers: Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said.Sources, however, said that there were injuries to some passengers and a few were rescued from the coaches which were affected due to the derailment. Several passengers were stranded with luggage on tracks and inconvenienced by the heavy rains, the sources stated.Officials said the Kasara and Asangaon suburban trains were running upto Titwala only.The CSMT-Howrah Gitanjali Express, which departs from Mumbai early morning, has been diverted via Kalyan-Karjat-Pune-Daund-Manmad route.Lcoal trains update:Thane to CSMT suburban local trains running 20 minutes late, while Harbour line trains are just 5 minutes delayed.Long distance trains update :Trains Short terminated ;*12138 Firozpur-CSMT Punjab Mail at Igatpuri*22102 Manmad-CSMT Rajyarani Express at Igatpuri*12110 Manmad-CSMT Panchavati Express at Igatpuri12118 Manmad-LTT Express is *fully cancelledAmravati-Mumbai Express, Nagpur-Mumbai Vidharbh and Sevagram Express and all other trains arriving to Mumbai via Kasara affected. Scores of passengers badly hit due to delays.Helpline numbers provided by Central Railway CSMT 22694040, Thane 25334840, Kalyan 2311499, Dadar 24114836, Nagpur 2564342