Central Railway Refunds Crores Passengers Mumbai Pune Train Cancelled Lonavala Karjat Landslide

Central Railway on Tuesday informed that it refunded Rs 5.91 crore to 79,747 passengers after a landslide between Karjat and Lonavala forced the cancellation, short-termination, short-origination and rescheduling of several trains, leaving a large number of commuters unable to travel.

The refund disbursal on Monday was nearly double the amount paid out on the same day last year due to a similar disruption. On July 6, 2025, Central Railway refunded Rs 3.01 crore to 38,687 passengers because of similar disruptions. This year’s figures mark an increase of Rs 2.89 crore and 41,060 additional passengers.

Railway officials said the surge reflected the scale of disruption caused by the landslide, even as the Railways moved swiftly to ensure passengers were not left waiting for their dues.

Among the divisions, Mumbai bore the larger share of the disbursal. On Monday, Rs 2.86 crore was refunded to 37,330 passengers in Mumbai Division, compared to Rs 1.42 crore paid to 17,490 passengers on the corresponding day last year.

Pune Division refunded Rs 1.56 crore to 20,982 passengers on Monday, against Rs 74.46 lakh refunded to 9,689 passengers on July 6, 2025. To manage the rush, Central Railway said it had mobilised additional staff at stations and set up special help desks to speed up processing of passenger refund requests.

The landslide, which occurred between Thakurvadi Cabin and Monkey Hill Cabin on the Lonavala-Karjat section, continued to affect train operations on Tuesday as well. According to Central Railway, the disruption on Tuesday resulted in 17 trains being cancelled, 29 trains diverted, 14 trains short-terminated, 12 trains short-originated, and 12 trains rescheduled.

Among the trains cancelled for journeys commencing Tuesday were the Pune-Solapur Intercity Express, Pune-CSMT Indrayani Express, Deccan Queen Express, Pune-CSMT Pragati Express, CSMT-Pune Sinhagad Express, CSMT-Dhule Express and Kolhapur-CSMT Express, among others.

Central Railway has also cancelled the Bhuj-Pune Express and CSMT-Kolhapur Express services scheduled for Wednesday.

Railway officials said restoration work on the affected stretch was in progress on a war footing. Passengers have been advised to check the status of their trains before undertaking a journey, and may contact the railway helpline or enquire at the nearest station for assistance.