Iffy indicators plague Harbour line

Commuters on the Harbour line are frustrated due to the non-updated indicators installed in the line, due to which many get into the wrong train that goes on to the wrong line and have to come back to the station. It also leads to panic among commuters with many getting off trains at the last minute.

The Central Railway (CR) that has switched over to the Train Management System (TMS) that has a synchronised system where the software automatically changes the train name and timing but on the Harbour line, the indicators are all still being managed manually.

Tehmina Sabuwala (27), a market researcher who resides in Panvel and travels to CST for work, said that indicators in stations like Dockyard and Vadala have often displayed Panvel and it is when the train changes from Vadala to Kings Circle instead of the Harbour line’s Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar (GTBN) do you realise that the indicator was incorrect. “The issue is if you have missed reading the trains destination on the board usually placed in front of the train you rely on the indicator and then are trying to just catch the train before it leaves the station. So if the information is wrong we have no other option but to get down at King’s Circle, come back to Vadala and catch a train to Panvel again,” she said.

It is a common sight to see the indicator changed seconds before the train leaves, causing panic among commuters especially women with children who then jump off the train.

CR officials agreed there is indeed a problem on the Harbour line with regard to the indicators. “Yes these mistakes keep happening at least two to three times a week and almost always on Sundays when the trains are run again after the mega-block is lifted,” said a CR official on the condition of anonymity. CR officials said they would monitor the situation to see what could be done to improve it.