Pune: For Solapur resident Fayeem Sayyad and his family, every attempt to reach Mumbai airport on Monday to see off his brother ended in disappointment as relentless rain brought both rail and road traffic to a standstill.The six-member family boarded the Hosapete–Mumbai Superfast Express from Solapur at 9.30pm on Sunday, expecting to reach the airport well before Fayeem’s brother Ajim Sayyad’s Saudia Airlines flight to Jeddah at 11am on Monday. The plan was to arrive by 7am to allow ample time for check-in.“Despite the rain, we had planned everything carefully. My brother works in Jeddah and had to return to his workplace. The train was to reach CMST around 6am and then, by 7.30am or 8am, we would be at the airport. We were confident of reaching comfortably, but the entire plan collapsed,” said Fayeem, an IT professional working in Kalyaninagar.Their ordeal began when the train came to a halt at Talegaon railway station around 2.30am on Monday and remained stranded for hours. “After repeatedly making inquiries, we learnt that a landslide triggered by heavy rain had disrupted train services. We had no idea what to do. It kept pouring and time was slipping away. Finally, we decided to book an Ola cab to Mumbai. Fortunately, we found one and left Talegaon around 6am, believing we could still make it,” he said.However, that hope quickly faded after the cab entered the Pune-Mumbai expressway. “The expressway was completely jammed. Vehicles had been stranded for hours and we too got trapped. Nothing was moving. Every passing minute added to our anxiety. Other motorists were equally frustrated and helpless. We assumed the rain had caused the gridlock, but we still kept trying till nearly 10am to somehow get my brother to the airport,” Sayyad said.The family then considered exiting the expressway and taking the old Pune-Mumbai highway. “Our driver agreed, but before taking the risk he called fellow cab drivers on that route. They told him the old highway was equally choked. That was when we realised there was simply no way of reaching the airport on time,” he said.The family eventually decided to abandon the journey and return home. Even turning around proved difficult. “It took us almost an hour just to make a U-turn. We finally reached Solapur around 1.30pm, exhausted and deeply disappointed,” Sayyad said.Their troubles, however, did not end there. The family had booked the nearly Rs30,000 ticket through a travel portal and is now uncertain about getting a refund. “The airline has not responded so far. We’ve sent messages on social media explaining our situation, but we don’t know if we’ll receive any refund. Since the booking was made through a travel website, the process will be even more difficult,” Fayeem told TOI.
