An unusual incident occurred on Monday, as the Vande Bharat Express going from Mumbai to Goa got deviated from its scheduled route near Diva station in Thane district of Maharashtra. This deviation caused trouble to the passengers. Mumbai's local train services were also affected due to this incident.
Central Railway spokesperson Swapnil Neela said that the incident occurred due to a fault in the signalling and telecommunication system. Trains going towards Konkan from Diva Junction usually move towards Panvel station, but Vande Bharat went in the direction of Kalyan station. Later the train was brought back from Kalyan to Diva and sent on the right route.
Due to this disruption, the CSMT-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express, which usually departs from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) at 5:25 am and reaches Madgaon at 1:10 pm, was delayed by around 90 minutes and reached its destination at 2:40 pm.
This high-speed train running between Mumbai and Goa (Madgaon) operates six days a week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. It stops at stations like Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Khed, Ratnagiri, Kankavali and Thivim during the journey.
Railway officials said that such incidents are very rare under the automatic signalling system in the Mumbai suburban area. After the incident, the railways have started investigating the technical flaws. Appropriate steps will be taken to ensure the safety of passengers and timely operations.