Mumbai Harbour line services were disrupted for nearly 30 minutes during Friday morning’s peak period after a piece of cloth became entangled in an overhead wire at Sewri station, affecting CSMT-bound services and leaving commuters stranded.
The obstruction was reported at about 9.44am on the CSMT-bound line. Railway officials switched off the power supply to the overhead wire above platform 2 to enable the cloth to be removed, according to the railway authorities cited in the report.
Services remained affected until around 10.13am, with two local trains held up during the disruption. Normal operations resumed after the obstruction was cleared. The incident occurred at a station used by commuters travelling through Mumbai’s Harbour line network during one of the busiest periods of the day.
Some passengers got down on the tracks and walked towards nearby stations to continue their journeys, the report said. Such movement can create additional operational and safety concerns during a service interruption, particularly when trains are held near platforms or along active suburban railway corridors.
The disruption was caused by a physical obstruction to the overhead electrical system rather than a reported signalling failure. Power had to be isolated before railway staff could remove the cloth, temporarily interrupting train movement on the affected section. The report did not specify how the cloth reached the overhead wire or whether any passenger or railway employee was injured.
The Sewri incident came after a week of other glitches on Central Railway. On Monday, an external wire became entangled with an overhead wire between Mulund and Thane. A fire in the signal relay room at Kanjurmarg also affected nearly 24 signals, according to the report. Those incidents were separate from Friday’s obstruction but added to the recent sequence of disruptions reported on the suburban network.
Mumbai’s suburban railway depends on tightly managed power, signalling and track operations, leaving limited room for interruptions during peak hours. Even a short stoppage can affect multiple trains and force passengers to change routes or walk to other stations. In this case, railway officials restored normal operations after removing the obstruction and re-energising the affected overhead system.
