Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday suggested that Railways examine the possibility of finding a path to start local trains services from Churchgate to central suburbs like Thane, Dombivali and Ambernath to reduce crowding at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). However, records show that Railways had already discussed this matter and claimed it isn’t feasible.
The division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Nutan Dessai made the suggestion while hearing public interest litigations (PILs) about prevention of accidents and emergency medical treatment on the Mumbai suburban network. During the hearing, the issue of overcrowding in trains was also discussed and since overcrowding in locals had resulted in several fatal accidents, the court expressed a desire for Railways to adopt methods that could reduce crowding in local trains.
The bench was of the view that if Railways could run trains between CST and Andheri, why couldn’t it run services between Churchgate and Thane. The bench said that currently trains from Churchgate ply only on the western suburbs route and the line does not have any connection with Central Railway (CR) apart from the Dadar railway station.
According to the judges, a number of commuters who have offices in Churchgate and Nariman Point can go to Churchgate station and take trains to the central suburbs instead of going all the way to CST. This would reduce the crowd at CST also. “Let this suggestion be looked into by experts from the field. Maybe a separate corridor can be set up,” said Justice Kanade.
In the meantime, Suresh Kumar, the counsel for Railways, informed the court that crowding-related casualties had reduced considerably on the harbour line — which starts from CST — after the introduction of 12-car rakes, but such incidents are still witnessed on the western and central line. He also told the court that an increase in deaths due to rooftop travelling had been noticed.
To address various railway-related issues, the court called the Mumbai police commissioner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner and high-ranking officers of Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority, City and Industrial Development Corporation and Railways to discuss and resolve the issue. The court will hear the matter on December 8.
