Suburban train services between Borivili and Virar on the Western Railway route in Mumbai were disrupted for a brief period during the peak hours on Thursday as commuters resorted to 'rail-roko' agitation, demanding a 12-coach local train to Virar instead of nine coach ones, railway officials said.
The residents of Virar resorted to agitation at around 9:15 AM during the peak office hours, causing incovenience to thousands of commuters. Their main demand was to have 12-coach local trains from Borivali to Virar stations on the lines of trains running between Churchgate to Borivili.
Of the total 409 (12-coach) trains running between Churchgate and Virar, 132 trains ran upto Virar, 180 ran upto Borivali and the rest to other destinations, a railway official said, adding that altogether 210 trains ran upto Virar from Churchgate and of these 132 were 12-coach trains, which account for 63 per cent of the services.
Railway Vigilance Manager Prakash Rao rushed to the site to talk to the agitated commuters. Officials meanwhile said that local train services between Churchgate and Borivili were normal and added that long-distance train services had also not been affected.