After woman’s death, experts say need more railway services

The death of 22-year-old Charmi Pasad, who succumbed to injuries she’d sustained after falling from an overcrowded train on Monday, has yet again turned the spotlight

The death of 22-year-old Charmi Pasad, who succumbed to injuries she’d sustained after falling from an overcrowded train on Monday, has yet again turned the spotlight on the Railways’ failure to implement measures to reduce overcrowding.

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Speaking after Pasad’s passing, Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway (CR), said, “The incident is unfortunate and Railway administration is making efforts to reduce the number of such cases. If compared to last year’s data, cases have reduced by over 12%. Cases have been registered against 420 people travelling on footboards. A fine of ₹1.55 lakh has also been imposed.”

However, experts have questioned if these steps are adequate. On an average, eight people lose their lives on the city’s suburban railway tracks and many of these accidents are caused by overcrowding. The stretch where Pasad fell has been particularly dangerous for commuters .

Forty-five lakh passengers use CR everyday, while 30 lakh travel on Western Railway (WR).

“There has been a drastic increase in passengers travelling from north Mumbai, but the capacity of public transport remains stagnant. Despite repeated requests to Railways to complete the fifth and sixth railway lines between Thane and Diva, nothing has been done. Deaths would continue until proper infrastructure is built,” said Lata Argade, vice president, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.

Projects aimed at augmenting the capacity of the Mumbai suburban train network and reduce congestion include remodelling Kalyan railway yard to segregate suburban and outstation railway traffic; construction of fifth and sixth railway lines between Borivli and Virar stations on WR; construction of third and fourth railway lines for CR between Kalyan and Badlapur stations; construction of fourth line on CR between Kalyan and Asangaon stations; and construction of fifth and sixth railway lines on CR between Thane and Diva. Despite approvals, many of these plans are awaiting funds.

With deadlines having lapsed for most of these projects, new timelines have had to be set, like for the railway lines between Thane and Diva railway stations, which were approved in 2008. These are now expected to be completed by 2020-2021.

“Capacity augmentation of train services should be done till and from Thane and Borivli stations. There is no proper connectivity for people to travel from parts like Karjat, Kalyan, and they are forced to commute by trains only,” said transport expert Ashok Datar.

Officials say the number of services can only be increased after the project to segregate suburban and outstation trains traffic is completed. Currently, after Kalyan, suburban and outstation trains use the same tracks.

In 2017, automatic closing doors were suggested for local trains operated by both CR and WR, to prevent passengers from falling from overcrowded compartments. However, initial trials of these doors failed on CR, while WR plans to conduct another set of trials.

“The railway projects that have been taken up are badly-designed and most of them, not completed. Road connectivity and improvement of bus services is also bad. There should have been a revival of Mumbai, not a shift of population towards north,” said urban planner Sulakshana Mahajan.