Almost a month after the first air-conditioned local was inducted in the suburban section, Divisional Railway Manager of Western Railway Mukul Jain highlights the challenges and opportunities ahead. According to him, 2018 will see more foot overbridges, CCTV cameras at railway stations and more train services for Western Railway commuters on the western harbour line. Excerpts from an interview to Indian Express: The 12-coach AC local is about to complete a month in service. But commuters have complained about higher fares and lower frequencies. What is WR doing on this? These are early days of the local. It has barely completed three weeks. People have complained about the higher fares but there has not really been any outrage about it. As of today, the average ridership of the AC local is 265 passengers per trip, which for a mass transport service is nothing. We are looking at various options of how ridership can improve. What do you predict could improve its ridership? We expect the ridership to go up to at least sixty to seventy per cent of capacity of the rake (which is 6,000 passengers per trip). We are experimenting with various plans. The nine new AC rakes to come will bear the same configuration as the existing suburban non-AC locals. This will include separate coaches for the disabled, ladies’ compartments and separate first and second class coaches for the passengers. With respect to the fares, we are still open and looking at different fare options. The feedback received from commuters is going to the railway ministry and they will take a call. After the stampede that claimed 23 lives on the foot overbridge at Elphinstone Road station last year, many foot overbridges were promised to be constructed in minimum time. What is their status? After the unfortunate stampede, a multi-disciplinary audit had conducted a survey of the suburban railway stations. Based on inputs from the team, officers of the field staff, passenger groups, political leaders and local police, we had formulated an action plan. The first part contained the FOBs and dispersal arrangement of the commuters at the stations. The second part aimed at implementing measures on a broader sense and looked at removal of hawkers and implementation of CCTV cameras. The third part of the plan was station specific and aimed at improving the dispersal of commuters at the station, and implementing minor action within the jurisdiction of the division. The report suggested 29 foot overbridges, and all have been sanctioned on an out-of-turn basis. The work has been divided between the respective departments in the Railways and the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC). At the time of the stampede, we had envisaged construction of 14 foot overbridges and we aim to complete six of them by March this year. The balance would be constructed in due course in one or two years. How many more foot overbridges will WR see by the end of 2018? At least 20-25 additional foot overbridges will be constructed by the end of 2018. We have already mooted the proposal of CCTV cameras at stations and sanction is awaited. The process of removal of hawkers is already on. Almost 70-80 per cent of the work on improving dispersal at railway stations is on. Would each of these steps de-congest stations on Western Railway? What other steps are planned? The foot overbridges at the spots identified in the audit is first. Second is to implement precautionary action to pre-empt the building up of crowds at railway stations. That is where the role of CCTVs comes in. At present, we have put in place over 332 Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) personnel and about 97 lady home guards. These have largely been stationed on foot overbridges to manage the crowds. Till the additional foot over bridges get constructed, such incidents can be pre-empted. Also, quick response measures have been put in place where now the control room of Railway Protection Force is better geared to take up emergency calls and respond at short notice. All stalls infringing on platforms were either removed or shifted. These things take time, may be perhaps another 3-4 months or so. All minor structures that needed to be removed have been removed. The stations have been cleaned of hawkers. The Army says they may not be able to complete the work on Elphinstone Road overbridge till January 31 on account of delays. Will this delay other bridge work planned by WR? No, they are at separate locations. The construction of one foot overbridge will in no way infringe upon the other work. As far as the delay in making the bridge is concerned, it is marginal and will be constructed by February 15, not January 31. Our work will remain as per schedule. The MRVC has been asked to look for an alternative solution in place of the Bandra-Virar elevated corridor. Till their plans of adding tracks materialise, will adding suburban train services be an issue? Yes, certainly. The WR is presently saturated. Unless we get the fifth and sixth corridor (up to Borivali station), it is practically impossible to add new services, especially during the peak hours. Minor addition of train services could be done. Meanwhile, projects sanctioned but yet to be commissioned include the fifth and sixth corridor up to Borivali and the second corridor between Virar and Dahanu Road stations. These are expected to offer major relief. Till when will each coach of suburban rakes have CCTVs, as promised by the railway ministry after the stampede? We have already proposed CCTV cameras in the coaches of the suburban rake under the Integrated Security System. This will provide comprehensive coverage of all suburban railway stations. The sanction is yet to be received but whenever they come, the presence of cameras in each coach of the rake will go a long way in improving safety of female commuters on locals. The other part is hiring of additional women home guards who will be stationed at appropriate places that will take care of issues related to security of female commuters. Third would be the improvement in lighting at stations wherever required. We are going for LED lighting at all stations.
