Three deaths reported amid Central Railway disruption; student’s family seeks compensation

A day after a major signalling failure disrupted Central Railway services for several hours on Monday (October 26, 2026), the family of a 21-year-old college student killed while crossing railway tracks at Bhandup demanded compensation from the railways. Two brothers also died in a separate incident between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli, with railway police investigating the circumstances of their deaths.

Sahil Navnath Thite, a final-year BCom student at Ratnam College, was struck by a Kalyan-bound fast local at Bhandup station on Monday (October 26) evening. According to his family, Sahil was attempting to reach a slow train after being unable to travel towards Bhandup on a fast train amid the disruption.

His relatives claimed that several commuters were crossing the tracks to reach another platform when the incident occurred. Sahil was allegedly climbing onto the platform when an approaching train caught his bag, resulting in his death.

His cousins, Vishal Thite and Sandeep Thite, have demanded compensation from the railways, alleging that the disruption contributed to his death. Sandeep further claimed that five people had died in incidents linked to the signalling failure across Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar and Mulund. However, the figure remains unverified.

Kurla Railway Police, meanwhile, have reportedly described Sahil’s death as a trespassing-related accident and disputed its connection to the signalling disruption.

In a separate incident, two brothers, identified as Kharban Rajbhar (39) and Rahul Rajbhar (25), died on the tracks between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli.

Commuters walk on railway tracks as a central railway line between Bhandup and Nahur in Mumbai were stuck due to a signal failure on October 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
ANI

Police sub-inspector Pradeep Shinde said the brothers were natives of Mau in Uttar Pradesh and lived together in a chawl in Thane, away from their families. Kharban was married and had four sons, while Rahul was unmarried.

According to Mr. Shinde, the incident occurred around 4 p.m. and involved a Kalyan-bound AC fast local. Since the location falls between two stations, there is no CCTV footage of the incident. Railway police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) and are investigating the circumstances.

The deaths occurred as commuters faced extensive delays following a fire inside a signalling hut at Kanjurmarg on Monday (October 26) morning, which damaged the Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) rack and signalling and telecommunications (S&T) instruments. A separate overhead equipment issue between Mulund and Thane compounded the disruption.

Michelle Thomas, a college student travelling from Mulund to Thane to catch a connecting train towards Vashi, said, “Trains were delayed by more than 45 to 50 minutes. The Kalyan-bound AC local she boarded stopped between the two stations for nearly an hour and a half.”

“Half the people from the other locals were getting down and walking on the tracks, which was scary like anything,” she said, adding that the air conditioning aboard her train was switched off during the wait.

Another college student, Annete Thomas, said she reached CSMT around 10:30 a.m. but struggled to identify trains as the destination indicators were not functioning. She eventually boarded a Titwala-bound fast local, which took nearly two hours to reach Ghatkopar.

Ms. Thomas said that she nearly collapsed during the prolonged journey after travelling without breakfast, before a fellow passenger offered her fruit. Frustrated by the delays, she eventually got off the train and walked along the tracks towards Vikhroli with other commuters.

“A lot of people were walking next to the train, and it was a very narrow space,” she said, adding that she walked for around 10 minutes to reach Vikhroli station.

She said cab fares had increased amid the disruption, with Uber rides to her home costing over ₹300. She eventually booked a Rapido ride for ₹224 to cover the remaining nine kilometres.

Meanwhile, Dr. Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway, said the damaged CTC rack and S&T instruments were repaired by around 7 p.m. on Monday (October 26). He confirmed that there were no signalling problems on Tuesday (October 27).

Central Railway has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the cause of the fire.

Published – October 27, 2026 04:29 pm IST