They are expected to reach Mumbai past midnight. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting in Rail Bhawan on Tuesday evening. A red alert was sounded by the Railway Board across all 16 zonal railways.
The Director of Public Relations, Railway, Mr I.K. Chari, told TNS that all long distance trains on Western Railway have been halted. He said all trains on Western Railway are being checked by the Railway Protection Force with the help of the dog squad. Although the Central Railway trains are running normally, they are also being checked by the RPF with the help of the dog squad.
He said all railway staff and doctors from hospitals close to the spot have been called for help. The injured have been admitted to KEM, Lilawati, Cooper, Sion, V.N. Desai and Hinduja hospitals.
Mr Chari said most of the blasts have taken place in first class compartments of local trains. He said according to information received from Western Railway, 15 passengers died and 30 were injured due to the explosion in coach number 935/A, 15 in train number 621 Down Churchgate-Virat local at Borivali station.
Sources in Rail Bhawan told TNS that trains that leave Mumbai after 6 pm as Mumbai Central Jaipur Express, Mumbai Central Indore Avantika Express, Golden Temple Mail, Bandra Dehradun Express and Ahmedbad-bound trains may have been affected.
Sources in Rail Bhawan said trains that are stranded are the 2921 Surat-bound Flying Rani at Andheri, 9016 Mumbai-bound Saurashtta Janata Express at Goregaon, the 2953 Delhi-bound August Kranti Express, the duplicate Rajdhani at Mira Road (the place where the explosion took place) and the 123 Valsad fast passenger at Elphinstine Road.
The Rajdhani Express train that leaves Mumbai at 4 pm is however said to be running as scheduled.
Sources in the Railway Board said they are awaiting information from the Western Railway on the extent of damage to overhead equipment (OHE) that supplies electric power to trains. They said a punctuality cell headed by Executive Director Coaching, Purushottam Guha and Advisor Safety in the safety cell is monitoring the movement of trains and rescue operations.
The Additional General Manager, Western Railway, is camping at the control office at Church Gate with other officers.
