Overview
- Heavy monsoon rains on July 6 triggered multiple landslides between Thakurwadi and Monkey Hill that damaged track formation on all three lines of the Lonavala–Karjat ghat and halted normal Mumbai–Pune operations.
- Central Railway reopened the middle line late on July 7 under a 30 km/h speed restriction but continued downpours repeatedly washed away repairs on the Monkey Hill–Thakurwadi stretch and slowed recovery.
- More than 1,100 workers and specialised equipment including a boulder train, Unimat and Duomatic track machines, Poclain excavators and JCBs are working round the clock to clear debris, stabilise slopes and rebuild embankments.
- To avoid last‑minute disruptions the railway has provisionally cancelled and rescheduled many long‑distance and intercity services through July 17 and state authorities will run about 200 extra MSRTC bus trips to ease passenger travel.
- Officials say stabilising the ghat requires large earth fills, gabion walls and rock bolting and that repair time could take another 40–50 hours if weather improves, a situation that highlights how extreme concentrated rainfall exceeded existing slope protections.