PUNE: A total of 16 trains, including inter-city trains between Pune and Mumbai have been cancelled due to a major landslide which happened at the Southeast (Pune-Lonavla) ghat section of the Central Railway in the wee hours on Monday. According to the railway officials, the landslide happened at around 3am blocking both the UP and Down tracks of the Pune-Lonavla section.The same happened between the Monkey Hill and Thakurwadi section of the ghat section which falls under the Mumbai rail division, Hemant Kumar Behera, the PRO of the Pune rail division confirmed. Train which have been cancelled include the Deccan Queen, Deccan Express, Intercity Express, Indrayani Express, Pune-Solapur Intercity Express, Deccan Express, Pragati Express, Sinhagad Express and Dhule Express. As many as nine trains have been diverted to different routes, some of which include the Ahmadnagar-Kolhapur Express, Indore-Daund Express, Bidar-CSMT Express, Daund-Gwalior super fast express, Nanded-Panvel Expess etc. Also some trains have been short terminated and short originated too due to the incident. “The landslide was detected by the alert patrolling staff and informed well in advance. No any train was affected by the landslide. Restoration work is in progress. Staff and resources are deployed. The section continues to receive heavy rains,” an official with the CR said.Officials said that with restoration works on, the number of cancellations, diversions etc, could increase. Authorities added that helplines had been established at several stations including Pune (9096815434), Chinchwad (9970295751), Nashik (9850852934), CSMT ( 022-22694040), Talegaon (8956935884) etc, for passengers.
