Even as a mega block on the Andheri-Borivli line left commuters reeling yesterday, Western Railway officials offered their prayers for a smooth completion of the ambitious DC-AC power conversion project
No pain, no gain
On day 1 of the project yesterday, a mega block in the Borivli-Andheri stretch disrupted train services, leaving many commuters stranded.
Over 160 suburban commuters asked for refunds at ticket counters, forcing WR to pay back nearly Rs 2,000.u00a0
WR ran 160 special trains between Churchgate-Bandra and Bhayander-Virar, and five special trains between Bandra-Virar.
Long distance trains were provided additional halts at Vasai Road, Bhayander, Andheri, Bandra and Dadar stations. The disrupted train services snowballed into commuting horrors on the Western Express Highway, SV Road and Link Road.u00a0
"It took me three hours to go from Dahisar to Bandra via the road. There was too much traffic," said Ankur Verma.u00a0 Auto and taxi drivers cashed in on the disruption, charging extra money for commutes to places like Bandra, Andheri and Jogeshwari. BEST claimed that they ran 150 additional buses mega-block affected areas.
"We had to run special buses due to the mega block on the WR line. There may have been some problems in bus services in the central suburbs, though the train services were not affected there," said S Shinde, chairman, BEST.
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