Central Railway trains to get seats near door back as commuters demand seating space

Changes were made to luggage and women’s compartments of five local trains in December 2015, after a commuter, Bhavesh Nakate, fell off an overcrowded train.

Taking note of complaints from central railway commuters, the authorities now plan to put back the seats that were removed to create space to stand.

Changes were made to luggage and women’s compartments of five local trains in December 2015, after a commuter, Bhavesh Nakate, fell off an overcrowded train. (File)

Changes were made to luggage and women’s compartments of five local trains in December 2015, after a commuter, Bhavesh Nakate, fell off an overcrowded train.

The ministry of railways had formed a passenger safety committee, which suggested the seat adjacent to the door be removed and additional grab handles be put.

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Passengers have now complained to the officials, claiming they don’t have enough space to sit and they should go back to the earlier seating arrangement. Ravinder Goyal, divisional railway manager, CR, said, “Commuters prefer the earlier arrangement. We will go back and put those seats in local train coaches.”

While, on an average, 300 commuters fit into a fully loaded compartment during peak hours, the modified seating arrangement allowed 500 commuters to board.

The railway authorities were hoping that the plan would be a success and wanted to expand it to the rest of the local train compartments.