Controlling overcrowding key on local trains

Mumbai: Controlling overcrowding is the key to avoid accidents on Mumbai suburban local trains and in an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court last year, the Central Railway (CR) had sought the court’s help to direct the Maharashtra government to introduce staggered timing for offices as one of the measures to do so.

During hearing on a PIL regarding accidents on Mumbai’s suburban railway network last year, the then Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Upadhyaya had said, “I feel ashamed. The manner in which passengers in local trains are made to commute is unacceptable.” He had also directed the railway authorities to file affidavit outlining concrete measures to mitigate accidents and emphasized the need for a fundamental shift in the Railways’ approach towards passenger safety, stressing that the current situation demands immediate rectification.

The grim situation of accidents on suburban railways came forth in the affidavit. While the Central Railway (CR) has 1,810 suburban services that carry 40 lakh passengers, a whopping 29,321 people have lost lives in various accidents on the CR between 2005 and July 2024. According to CPRO Dr Swapnil Dhanraj Nila, “Existing passenger carrying capacity is almost fully utilised and there is hardly any scope for increasing it further (to control overcrowding) till the basic infrastructure is expanded.”

Reason of deaths

The affidavit filed by the CR said that most of the accidents were due to crossing the tracks, some were due to falling off crowded trains, while some were due to passengers being knocked down by poles adjacent to railway tracks and even gaps between platform and train footboards, among other reasons. The affidavit stated that in 2009, there were 1,782 deaths and 1,614 people were injured, which came down to 1,221 deaths and 938 injuries in 2023.

The CR had also sought the assistance of the court to direct the Maharashtra government to introduce staggered timing for offices. It had also sought the removal of some encroachments along the railway tracks, especially at Parsik Tunnel, stopping of unauthorised sand mining at Mumbra creek and a parallel road between Thane and Kalyan.

Experts say

Transport expert Sudhir Badami points at yet another issue – “making attractive mass transit system affordable.”

“The railway board has now decided that all rakes under manufacturing for Mumbai Suburban network will have automatic door closer facility. However, controlling the overcrowding is the key and that would need policy intervention and holistic approach towards resolving the transport issues of the region,” he said.

15 coach locals

MP from Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency Dr Shrikant Shinde, who visited the injured commuters at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Hospital at Kalwa said that increasing the capacity of transporting more number of passengers quickly is the need of the hour. “Locals need to be made less crowded. Fast locals need to be started between Diwa and CSMT for that. Also, starting the fifth and sixth lines up to CSMT at earliest is must. Raising the number of 15-car rakes during peak hours too can be a very effective way to tackle the issue of overcrowding in the locals,” the MP said.