Plans to stop fast trains at Diva postponed

Sources within the Railways have said that the plan to stop fast trains at Diva has been postponed owing to lack of availability of labour on account of Diwali and Chhath Puja and that fast trains will now halt at Diva by the end of November. The Central Railway (CR) had operated four block of eight-hours on Sundays and built a new platform for the fast trains to stop.

The demand for this facility arose after the Diva riots last January during which the commuters had lost their cool after mail express trains were given preference over suburban services. In fact, the rioting, as a result, had led to '2.5-crore damage of railway property.

Officials said that the finishing touches like the cover-over and the tiling of the platform is currently underway. Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is the executing body of the remaining work, chief public relations officer Prabhat Ranjan said. “We will be done with the remaining work like getting the platform ready by the end of November and the railways will be able to run the services after that,” he said.

An official on the condition of anonymity said, “The MRVC did not have enough labourers and therefore the platforms was not evened out and tiled. The services can start now as well since most of the signalling work for the same is done but there is a fear that if the platform is not evened out and tiled, commuters may slip or fall and sustain severe injuries.”