Control overcrowding on Thane FOB: Vichare

Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare has demanded that the Central Railway administration takes action to control overcrowding on foot over bridges at Thane railway station to prevent a repeat of the Elphinstone Road stampede. Vichare has written a letter to top railway officials requesting steps to resolve the issue, particularly during peak hours. He also emphasised the need to complete the construction of two new foot over bridges and connect the Kalyan end foot over bridge to SATIS to prevent a stampede.

THANE: Central Railway administration must take necessary steps to control overcrowding on foot over bridges at Thane railway station and prevent a repeat of Elphinstone Road-like stampede, demanded Rajan Vichare, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP.

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Vichare, who has been pursuing the revamp of Thane railway station for last five years, has written a letter to Central Railway’s top officials, Naresh Lalwani, general manager, and Rajnish Goel, division railway manager, demanding adequate steps to resolve the overcrowding at Thane railway station especially during the peak hours.

A HT report in its June 30 edition highlighted the lack of crowd management at Thane railway station leading to a potentially dangerous situation at the station.

In his letter, Vichare said Thane railway station is a historic railway station and over eight lakh passengers travel through the station daily. The station’s FOBs were widened earlier, and a bridge, equipped with an escalator, was built at the centre of the station. It enabled all nine platforms to be connected to SATIS bridge.

“However, the Kalyan end FOB was not connected to SATIS, causing inconvenience to passengers. The situation worsens in the morning and evening peak hours,” said the letter dated July 7 in hindi.

“I had pointed this out in a previous letter to the department concerned, but no action was taken. The possibility that the horrible Elphinstone Road-like stampede could happen at Thane is being talked about,” said the letter.

Vichare pointed out that the construction of two new FOBs at Kalyan and Mumbai ends had started with funds from the Thane Municipal Corporation.

“Funds to the tune of ₹ 8 crore were released to the Central Railways. Despite this, work on both the FOBs has been stalled. As railway passengers use these FOBs, it is the responsibility of the railways,” said the letter seeking directives to concerned officials to complete the two FOBs and link the Kalyan end FOB to SATIS to prevent a repeat of an Elphinstone Road-like stampede.

Speaking to HT, Vichare said, “I have written to the Central Railway on the issue. There are four FOBs out of which only two are operational which is causing the problem. The Kalyan side FOB has not been connected to SATIS, preventing passengers from exiting on SATIS.

“About 1 metre to 1.5 metres of the bridge needs to be extended. Once that is done, and work on two FOBs gets completed, it will provide a relief to daily commuters. A ₹2,100 crore revamp of the station has been planned which will dramatically improve amenities and east-west connectivity further.”

The first ever suburban train in India operated between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Thane railway station in April, 1853.