‘Reduce trains to prevent deaths’

In order to prevent deaths caused by commuters falling off running trains, Central Railway’s (CR) newly-formed committee has recommended the reduction of the number of long distance or passenger trains that run during morning and evening peak office hours.

According to railway officials, there are about 15 long distance trains that run from Kalyan side towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Dadar Terminus and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) during the morning peak hours between 8 am and 11 am and run from CST towards the Kalyan end during evening peak hours between 4 pm and 7 pm. As a result, several times local trains are halted to create paths for long distance trains, thus delaying trains that run during the peak hours. This further adds to the commuter rush both on the platform and inside the train.

After 21-year-old Bhavesh Nakate fell off an overcrowded train between Kopar and Diva on November 27, Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu had directed that a committee should be formed which will include MPs, local commuter group representatives and NGOs, who will look into ways to reduce the rush in the local trains.

A few of the trains that run during the peak hours include Vidarbha, Duranto Express, Deccan Express, Panchavati, Rajya-Rani and Punjab Mail. According to railway officials, each of these trains eat into three minutes of the local trains’ punctuality. “The cascading effect of running these long distance trains is that local passenger trains get delayed by around 20 minutes during peak hours and there is little that we can do in the matter because until the 5th line between CST and Kurla is operational, this situation will continue,” said a CR official on condition of anonymity.