Mumbai local train services were disrupted on Monday morning after a fire near railway tracks in Maharashtra’s Palghar district damaged signalling equipment, forcing Western Railway to operate trains under prescribed safety procedures. Several suburban and long-distance trains were delayed, with commuters reporting waits of at least 15 to 20 minutes during the morning rush hour.
The fire was reported at around 11.20 pm on Sunday and was extinguished within 30 minutes, Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said, according to Mid-Day. No injuries were reported.
The blaze broke out near the tracks between two stations in Palghar district and damaged signalling equipment in the affected section. The damage caused multiple track circuits to fail, disrupting the signalling system used to regulate train movements and maintain safe separation between services.
As a result, train operations were restricted on the affected stretch. Abhishek said trains travelling towards Mumbai were among those affected, with both suburban services and long-distance trains running behind schedule.
“Up trains are being operated by passing two signals as per the prescribed rules due to the signalling failure,” Abhishek said. The operating procedure requires railway staff to manage train movements under specific safety protocols while the signalling system remains unavailable.
The disruption was felt most sharply during the Monday morning peak, when large numbers of passengers depend on Western Railway’s suburban network to reach workplaces, schools and other destinations. Delays increased waiting times and contributed to crowding at several stations and inside local trains, according to commuter accounts cited in the report.
The incident highlights the operational dependence of Mumbai’s suburban railway on signalling equipment along sections shared by high-frequency suburban and long-distance services. A failure in track circuits can affect not only the immediate location of the fault but also the timetable across connected services, as trains must be slowed, held or operated under manual restrictions.
Railway staff were working to repair the damaged equipment and restore the affected track circuits, Abhishek said. The return of normal operations depended on the extent of the damage and the time required to complete restoration work.
Western Railway had not reported any injuries in connection with the fire. Officials were continuing repair work on the signalling system, with normal suburban and long-distance train operations expected to resume after the affected equipment and track circuits were restored.
