‘Separate body to run city trains’

Let Mumbai’s suburban rail network — used by more than 70 lakh commuters every day, the highest in India — be managed by a separate entity instead of the Western and the Central railways.

Let Mumbai’s suburban rail network — used by more than 70 lakh commuters every day, the highest in India — be managed by a separate entity instead of the Western and the Central railways.

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The Mumbai Railway Passenger Association and Members of Parliament (MP) met officials from the Railway Board in Delhi two weeks ago and made this request while submitting a charter of demands.

An independent body will be able to better ensure that the day-to-day working of the local trains, their punctuality and quality of services are not get affected.

Currently, both the Central and Western railways have to balance the functioning of local as well as long-distance trains.

“The suburban train services are severely congested. So we have asked the Railway Board to study the feasibility of having a separate body to manage the day-to-day working of the suburban rail system,” said MP Supriya Sule, who headed this delegation.

The charter — a copy of which is with Hindustan Times — states that as both the divisions, headquartered in Mumbai, have to connect important cities and industrial establishments through long-distance trains, they are busy focusing on the long-distance network. “Both CR and WR have to spend a major portion of their time attending to inter-city problems. This leaves hardly any time for the divisions to pay the required attention to the suburban network,” said Madhu Kotian, president, Mumbai Railway Passenger Association.

“An independent zone for suburban railways will help look after the interests of commuters effectively, judiciously and efficiently.”

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) was formed in 1999 for the smooth handling of all rail projects on the suburban network and to ease the burden on the WR and CR. However, the MRVC is involved only till the implementation of the projects.

“The difficulty is that both the suburban and long-distance trains run on the same line in Mumbai. Until the suburban lines are segregated through additional lines meant for outstation trains, there is no sense in having a separate body,” said a senior railway official, on condition of anonymity.

Once the lines are segregated, railway authorities will be able to run more services and handle technical problems in the system more efficiently. It will also reduce the number of delays and cancellations.