December 10: Harbour line services on the Central Railway (CR) between Bandra and Andheri came to a standstill for nearly five hours today morning following the smashing of three pentographs of an Andheri-bound local near the Rawli junction at about 6.25 am.

Following the incident, no local could be operated up to Andheri on the harbour corridor, and trains were sent back to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus from Bandra station, causing inconvenience to the peak-hour office-goers.

Announcements, however, were being made on the central announcing system about the technical snag to inform passengers who were stranded on platforms between Bandra and Andheri.

Railway officials informed that the mishap took place when the local Andheri-9 was passing through the Rawli junction between King's Circle and Wadala stations. All the three pentograph's smashed due to a short circuit.

After nearly five hours, when the faulty EMU rake had been removed from the tracks and taken to the carshed, the Central Railway could operate its first local towards Andheri passing through Rawli junction at about 11.19 am, a Central Railway spokesperson informed.

Meanwhile, the suburban trains on the Western Railway were also running late by more than 15 minutes.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.