Chaos unfolded at Virar station on Monday morning as thousands of commuters took to the tracks, halting train services in protest against a key timetable change by Western Railway. The sudden conversion of the 8.28 am Virar Churchgate local into an air conditioned service triggered widespread anger, with passengers raising slogans against the administration.

The protest quickly escalated, bringing peak hour traffic to a standstill. Several trains on the Western line were delayed by 10 to 15 minutes, affecting thousands of daily travellers. Police personnel were deployed at the station to control the situation and disperse the crowd.

commuters expressed frustration over what they described as poor planning. An AC local was already operational at 8.33 am, and the addition of another at 8.28 am left only a five minute gap between two premium services. Passengers argued that this effectively reduced the number of regular locals, worsening overcrowding in the remaining trains.

Protesters said that while modernisation is welcome, it should not come at the cost of affordable travel. Many demanded that new AC services be introduced without replacing existing non AC trains.

The 8.28 am train is considered a lifeline for office goers, students, and workers travelling from the Virar Vasai belt. With AC fares significantly higher, many commuters said the shift has disrupted their daily budgets.

Angry passengers pointed out that overcrowding is already a major issue, and the reduction in regular services forces them to travel in unsafe conditions. “We are being pushed into more crowded trains or expensive options,” said one commuter.

Railway passenger groups have urged authorities to reconsider the decision and restore normal services. Officials are working to stabilise operations, but the protest has once again highlighted the delicate balance between infrastructure upgrades and commuter affordability in Mumbai’s lifeline rail network.

Mumbai: The Charkop police have arrested a woman wanted in a fraud case linked to a Kandivali-based overseas education consultancy accused of cheating students by promising admissions abroad.

The arrested accused, Shraddha Vitthal Gadekar, had been absconding for five months. The firm owners, Stella Rakesh Mehta and Rakesh Mehta, are co-accused and remain at large.

Police said similar cases have also been registered against the couple in Mumbai and Thane. According to the complaint filed by Kandivali resident Dr Nehal Joshi, he approached the consultancy, Career and Options, for his daughter’s admission to a Master of Trade and Logistics course at Wittenborg University in the Netherlands.

Police said the accused assured the family of admission and asked them to transfer fees to the firm’s account. Joshi later obtained an education loan and transferred over ₹10 lakh.

However, the university informed the family that no payment had been received. The accused later shut their office and fled. Gadekar was produced before a Borivali court, while police are searching for the other accused.

Mumbai: An oil spill on the Western Express Highway near the Mumbai Airport led to traffic disruption on the northbound stretch of the Western Express Highway on Sunday, with motorists reporting heavy congestion towards the airport.

According to a video shared by Instagram account ‘Nosh.navigate’, the oil spill was reported on the Western Express Highway near the airport. The video shows a man and a woman, who had reportedly fallen from their bike after it skidded on the oil-covered road. Both are seen getting up after the fall, though they appear visibly hurt.

The video later shows an ambulance at the same spot, suggesting that the injured persons were attended to and may have been taken for medical assistance.

Mumbai Traffic Police also issued an alert on X, warning commuters about the oil spill. The police said movement was slow on Centaur Bridge, close to Sahar, on the northbound side due to the spill.

The incident was also flagged by commuters stuck in the traffic jam on the Western Express Highway. User ‘Mandar Natekar’ took to twitter to post a video of he north bound side of the bridge that shows vehicles stuck in traffic as far as the eye can meet, stating ‘Northbound traffic on WEH is totally jammed all the way from the airport flyover to Bandra ! Seems there is some issue on the airport flyover that the police are checking. If you are travelling from Bandra towards Andheri on the WEH pls check for alternate routes.’

Another X user, ‘Jijo_Joseph’, claimed that there was a massive traffic jam on the highway and that traffic had not moved for nearly 45 minutes from Khar to Santacruz, in the same direction towards the airport.

The Mumbai Traffic Police has also reponded to this user stating that the issue has been raised to the Bandra division ‘Thanks for bringing this to our Notice. Bandra Traffic Division has been informed about this.’

Commuters travelling along the western express highway are advised to avoid the western express highway until the oil spills has been cleared.

The incident has once again raised concerns over oil spills on major city roads and the need for quicker response measures to prevent accidents, especially on high-speed corridors such as the Western Express Highway.