Would Mumbai stations get safer after Railway’s decision to remove stalls from platforms?

Stalls and vendors will be offered space near ticket booking areas or the concourse, but away from platforms.

To increase safety of passengers travelling on the Indian Railways, the authorities plan to remove stalls from all the platforms. Stalls and vendors will be offered space near ticket booking areas or the concourse, but away from platforms.

To increase safety of passengers travelling on the Indian Railways, the authorities plan to remove stalls from all the platforms. (HT File (Representational Image))

“The platforms will be made stall-free for smooth passenger movement,” said Ashwini Lohani, chairman railway board.

Lohani was speaking at a media workshop organised by Indian Railways in Shimla, on passenger safety and in the context of the Elphinstone stampede in the city that left 22 people dead.

He said the Railways will also add more Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches, which are currently present in all premium trains, to the Indian railway network. The coaches are lighter and don’t collide against each other or climb on to each other like regular coaches in case of an accident. “Every year 5,000 coaches will be converted into LHB,” said Lohani.