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Journalism of Courage
In order to address the commuting woes of its more than 1,500 employees during peak hours, the Central Railway has introduced flexible working hours from next month.
In a letter issued on October 27, the CR’s Mumbai division informed all senior officers about the two working slots which will be introduced from November 1 for employees working at the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) office located in the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.
According to the letter, the first slot will be from 9.30 am to 5.45 pm and the second from 11.30 am to 7.45 pm. Employees can select a slot but can make changes only at the beginning of the month and no changes will be allowed midway, it added.
A press conference regarding the new slots will be held by the CR divisional railway manager (DRM) on Monday at its CSMT headquarters.
Reasons behind flexi work
Officials said the initiative has been taken to ensure the safety of its employees who have to travel in overcrowded local trains during peak hours risking their lives.
Moreover, they added, the Bombay High Court had also directed CR to introduce flexible working hours in some of the sectors to control crowds on local trains.
The direction came in connection with a case the Bombay HC is hearing with regard to measures being initiated by the Indian Railways to ensure safe travelling in local trains and reduce crowds.
Several other initiatives, including the introduction of AC local trains and the construction of foot-over bridges (FOBs), to prevent deaths due to trespassing and falling from trains, have also been brought in, officials added.
No new local train service
The decision to allow flexible working hours has also been taken to ease the load on trains that run every three-and-half minutes with jam-packed capacity, according to sources.
CR officials said they have been unable to increase or add any new local train services on the up and down direction of the mainline between CSMT-Kalyan, Badlapur, and Titwala suburban sections. The existing tracks already have heavy traffic congestion for both local and long-distance trains, they added.
Delay in construction of new lines
Additionally, the CR has not been able to construct a new fifth and sixth line between Kurla and Parel and CSMT. The new track laying work project under the MUTP-II was sanctioned in 2008 but even after 15 years, no actual work has been started on the ground. The CR is facing land acquisition hurdles.
At present, there are four lines on the mainline of CR — two each for up and down fast and slow local trains.
The fifth and sixth lines are between LTT and Kalyan. LTT is one of the long-distance mail and express terminal stations.
The CR has been acquiring land for the construction of new lines between Kurla and Parel so that once done, long-distance and local trains will have separate lines from Parel to Kalyan. Thereafter, the fifth and sixth line work will be initiated between Parel and CSMT to ensure separate lines for smooth services.
The suburban and long-distance train movement can be separated only after the construction of the fifth and sixth lines and further pave the way for the running of additional local train services.
Currently, CR operates 1,810 local train services daily on weekdays, serving nearly 37 lakh passengers.
No chance to augment local trains to 15 coaches
Due to the lack of enough stabling lines (car shed), local trains cannot be augmented to 15 coaches from the existing 12 and nine coaches. At present, the CR has only two rakes of 15 cars each, which make 22 trips every day.
The CR has two stabling lines, where trains are parked and maintained when not in operation, at the Kalyan goods yard and on platform number 7 at CSMT. However, they are not enough for the augmentation of trains to 15 coaches.
While the existing car sheds have already been augmented for trains converted into 12 cars from nine cars, expanding it further will require shifting of tracks, points, etc, which is difficult, especially in Mumbai, officials say.
Since land near railway tracks and depots has been encroached upon in many places, augmentation of trains will be possible only after the development of new depots/car sheds, as per the officials.
WR’s new sixth line work
Meanwhile, the construction of the new sixth line between Khar and Goregaon is underway on another of Mumbai’s busiest suburban sections of the Western Railway from Churchgate to Virar. Currently, a mega block has been initiated with the cancellation of several train services.
Once the work on the sixth line is completed, the WR will be able to expand and enhance the railway infrastructure and further increase train services by at least 20 per cent, providing more options and potentially reducing overcrowding in the existing local train services.
At present, WR operates a significant number of local services daily — 1,394 local services, including 79 AC services, daily. It caters to over 27.24 lakh commuters on its suburban network every day.
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