Indian Railways News => Topic started by railgenie on Jul 13, 2013 - 06:00:09 AM


Title - Rains hit expressway traffic, rail routes
Posted by : railgenie on Jul 13, 2013 - 06:00:09 AM

Flights unaffected despite poor visibility

The rail and road traffic between Pune and Mumbai was affected on Friday due to intermittent rains.While trains were running half-an-hour behind schedule, traffic on Pune-Mumbai expressway and old Pune-Mumbai highway slowed down due to reduced visibility. Even as visibility at Lohegaon airport had reduced to 3.5 km, flight services were by and large on time.

Rainfall for the past three days has caused potholes, thereby slowing traffic on city internal roads. No major snarls were reported from any part of the city.

The worst affected were citizens working in Mumbai who travel regularly by Deccan Queen, Pragati Express and Sinhagad Express. The three trains reached the financial capital about 30 minutes late.

Madhu Pandey, a Deccan Queen passenger who works at Western Railways headquarters in Churchgate, said, “The train departed from Pune on time but got delayed due to water logging on the tracks. I reached office late and had to leave from work early so that I can catch the train in time to return home.”

Reduced visibility and closure of a lane as a precautionary measure against possible landslides in the Bor ghat section affected vehicular traffic on Pune-Mumbai expressway. Shivajinagar ST depot senior depot manager Vilas Patil said,

“Buses on the Pune-Mumbai route were running late due to heavy rains. Buses coming from Mumbai were running an hour behind schedule, delaying the departure of Mumbai-bound buses too.” Flights were unaffected despite less visibility. Visibility on normal days is around 8 km, but heavy rainfall had reduced it to less than 3.5 km.

An airport terminal manager said,”Reduced visibility did not affect incoming and outgoing flights.There was no report of water logging or any sort of disruption on the runway.”

City receives 9.5 mm rainfall on Friday

With steady drizzle continuing throughout the day, Pune received good rainfall on Friday. India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded 9.3 mm rainfall on Friday.

The rainfall that started late on Thursday night continued the entire day on Friday. IMD officials have predicted that the city will get good rainfall for the next 24 hours.

“The current progress of monsoon is very good. Pune will receive intermittent showers with 51% and 75% probability of occurrence. The city recorded 2.5 mm rainfall on Thursday and 9.5 mm of rainfall on Friday.”