The Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Central Railway’s elevated corridor has envisaged installing new type of doors on the platform that would deter commuters from standing on platform edges.
The elevated corridor will run from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Panvel and is exclusively meant for air-conditioned trains. The DPR is now awaiting railway minister Suresh Prabhu’s sanction.
Based on suburban travel experience in Mumbai, officials have sought to make the corridor last for 50 years. They have mentioned a new design called platform screen doors (PSD). These will rise from the tracks upwards to where the commuters stand with openings provided only where the doors will open, that too only after the train finally comes to a halt. “The PSD has been designed so, because people have a tendency to stand on the edge of the platform or scramble in or out haphazardly, endangering themselves. The PSDs will make it impossible for commuters to stand on the edge,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.
Though the issue of deaths caused by commuters hanging out from doors will be automatically resolved as a result of the closed doors in AC trains, officials said they wanted to ensure chances of people falling down on the tracks as the train arrives are contained.
The corridor will have 11 stations, of which four will be on the same level as the current stations while the remaining stations will be elevated and the foot-over-bridges and rail-over-bridges will be connected to skywalks on both the east and the west sides of the stations. This, officials said, will be vital during peak hours and will be a boon in case of an emergency evacuation. “Commuter will be forced to alight from trains safely in an organised manner. Another advantage is that emergency evacuation will be made easy by the high number of built in exit/entry points,” the official further said.
Railway Board officials are currently going over the details of the Niti Aayog but a final nod for the report will be given by Mr Prabhu, when he visits Mumbai on Monday.
