Key points :
- The Western Railway clarified that the overcrowding incident was an unusual, isolated incident due to cancellation of suburban services due to heavy rainfall
- The Central Railway introduced 68 additional suburban local services in order to prevent overcrowding
- Along with the essential services staff, state and central government staff, employees of nationalised and private banks, PSUs and pharma companies are currently allowed to travel in local trains.
Recently, two videos of overcrowding at a local train station in Mumbai went viral on the internet garnering strong reactions from the public. The first video showed commuters overcrowding while attempting to board a local and the second video showed a jam packed local compartment violating all norms of social distancing.
This raised concerns among the public about the inadequacy of public transport in these times drawing criticism towards the authorities.
The Western Railway on Thursday addressed this incident stating, “There was heavy rain in Mumbai on 23/9/2020, resulting in cancellation on suburban services. The video being circulated is that of a suburban service which started as an extra Virar 15-compartment service on September 23 [Wednesday] at 3.45pm from Churchgate. The video is of this service at Borivli platform number 3 at 5.22pm. Due to the cancellations of suburban services during morning owing to heavy rains and flooding in Mumbai, the rush at Borivli was a very unusual occurrence. Western Railway has adopted proactive approach in increasing the number of suburban services, ahead of demand, keeping the social distancing norms in mind.”
Stating that this was an unusual, isolated incident, Railway officials also said that many commuters stood at the doorways, leading to overcrowding.
“Additional local train services are being operated. However, the video in question has unusual build up at doorways. There is no crowding inside the compartment,” said a senior Western Railway official.
The Central Railway on Thursday introduced 68 additional special suburban services in Mumbai from Thursday in a bid to reduce overcrowding. Out of these 68 services, 46 will be on the main line (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Kasara, Khopoli and Karjat), and 22 on the harbour line (CSMT to Panvel and Goregaon), the Central Railway (CR) said in a release. This move makes the total number of special services of CR in suburban Mumbai 423 compared to 355 earlier, out of which, 329 are on the main line, 92 on the harbour line and two on the trans-harbour line (Thane-Vashi and Thane-Panvel).
“In order to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding, the Central Railway has taken the decision to increase the number of daily special suburban services from 355 to 423 from September 24,” CR’s chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said. “Services were gradually increased for the convenience of passengers and to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing,” Sutar added.
Earlier this week, the Western Railway started 150 additional special suburban services, making the total number of such services on its routes to 500. Along with the essential services staff, state and central government staff, employees of nationalised and private banks, PSUs and pharma companies are currently allowed to travel in local trains. Authorities have made QR code-based identity cards mandatory for travelling in these trains.
