Mumbai, April 22 -- A motorman's alertness averted a potential accident near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on Tuesday afternoon, when two suburban trains came face-to-face on the same line. According to Central Railway (CR) officials, a Badlapur-CSMT fast local was incorrectly routed towards platform 5, where another train was already stationed, instead of platform 4, which was vacant. However, the motorman in the Badlapur-CSMT fast local noticed the train in front and applied the brakes on time, bringing it to a halt around 100-130 metres in front of the stationed local. The incident, which occurred around 3.18 pm, disrupted services between platforms 5 and 8 for 20-25 minutes, leading to bunching of trains and overcrowding. Commuters also spilt onto the tracks during the disruption. The station master responsible for the incorrect routing was suspended pending an inquiry, officials said. This was among the most significant slip-ups on Mumbai's suburban rail system in recent times, occurring 14 years after a head-on collision near Andheri station in June 2012, which left 10 people injured. According to officials, the Badlapur-CSMT fast local had just crossed a signal when it suddenly came to a halt. "Prima facie, it has come forth that the path set by the station master for the train was towards platform 5 instead of platform 4, which was empty," said a CR official. "So, when the train took the crossover (the portion of tracks where the train changes rail lines) onto platform 5, it went straight instead of taking the second crossover to platform 4. What we understand is that the motorman applied the brakes, and it came to a halt." Since the train had just crossed a signal, its speed was just 10-15 kmph, so it could be brought under control immediately, the official added. After the train came to a halt, commuters started jumping onto the tracks and walking towards the platforms at CSMT. CR was then forced to suspend services across platforms 5-8, leading to delays across the suburban network. The only way to restore the Badlapur-CSMT Fast local's path was to reverse it, which is considered an "accident" in railway parlance. At around 3.40 pm, the train was reversed until it reached the signal where it had been waiting earlier, after which the route was reset. Once the train was reversed, it was diverted towards platform 4, from where it departed for Titwala at around 3.58 pm. "We will be checking the footage from the CCTV installed in this train for the series of events. The station master has been suspended for now," said another CR official. The incident capped a day of delays on the CR network. The day began on a troubled note after a scheduled night block at Khardi overshot its deadline. The block, initially planned till 2.50 am, was extended till 3.30 am and eventually continued till 4.17 am due to incomplete engineering work, officials said. This delayed long-distance trains and had a cascading impact on morning suburban services. An unscheduled block at Dombivli between 8 am and 8.35 am-at the same location where a derailment occurred a day earlier-further disrupted operations till around 9.15 am....