Railway officials have cleared debris from the middle line on Wednesday morning which allowed a limited number of trains to resume operations.

Train movement had come to a complete halt after intense rainfall on Monday night which triggered landslides at six to seven locations between Lonavala and Karjat. The continuous downpour was coupled with strong winds, repeatedly hampered restoration efforts which forced the railway teams to work under challenging conditions.

As debris are now removed from one of the affected tracks, services have gradually resumed. The Indrayani Express and Pune Intercity Express were among the first trains to depart from Mumbai towards Pune, along with two other long-distance express services. The partial restoration has brought relief to thousands of stranded passengers, although railway officials said full operations would resume only after all tracks are declared safe.

However, restoration work continue to face new challenges. On Wednesday morning, another landslide occurred near Khandala railway station which added concerns and hinted the railway authorities to maintain close monitoring of the vulnerable ghat section.

Heavy rainfall also affected the state's ambitious Mumbai-Pune Expressway Missing Link Project, where a massive landslide struck the approach to the first tunnel on Monday morning. Large boulders, debris and a concrete safety structure collapsed onto the roadway which forced the authorities to suspend traffic on the newly constructed corridor.

Despite persistent rain, engineers, heavy machinery and emergency personnel had worked continuously for nearly 12 hours to remove the debris and restore connectivity.

Authorities have advised the commuters those are travelling between Mumbai and Pune to check the latest traffic and train updates before beginning their journey, as intermittent rainfall continues to pose the risk of new landslides in the ghat section.