Central Railway plans Rs20,000-cr makeover to ease pressure on suburban system

The Central Railway is planning a major makeover of the Mumbai suburban railway system, involving improvements in service, introduction of new routes and acquisition of 150 new rakes in order to ease pressure on the suburban rail system, its general manager Akhil Agrawal said.

Addressing the media at the Mumbai Press Club, Agrawal said he is studying the report of a committee on improving the suburban services and will take an appropriate decision soon.

The committee was formed at the instance of railway minister Suresh Prabhu, in the wake of reports of increasing number of accidental deaths on the suburban tracks in Mumbai and its suburbs. Reports put the number of accidental deaths on the CR's suburban tracks at around ten daily.

The committee has cautioned that with the existing stock the situation can be ''explosive'' by 2030 as the number of casualties will multiply manifold due to open doors on the trains, the committee cautions and stresses that CR trains need air-conditioning and door closures much before the Western Railway.

He said CR expects to introduce air-conditioned locals in Mumbai before the end of this year and this could further reduce accidents due to open doors.

Agrawal said the Central Railway has taken various steps like increasing frequency of trains, introducing 12-coach rakes which resulted in fall in the number of deaths on tracks, adding that the number of such deaths have fallen to 1,414 over the past eight months from around 2,187 in the same period in the previous year.

Quoting from the report of the Public Relations Club of India (PRCI) national president B N Kumar said that CR works at 400 per cent capacity on normal days and at times even exceeds 800 per cent capacity and calls for additional exclusive platforms to handle suburban trains, new trains to bridge the gap, and stabilizing lines to help double the services.

The panel report envisages that half of the projected investment is to go for acquiring new rakes, while the stabling lines or parking places for trains to reduce piling up of rakes – akin to bumper-to-bumper road traffic - will be developed on self-financing basis.

Responding to questions on parking or stabling lines, Agrawal said there was a space constraint in Mumbai city area. Hence the Railway is looking at areas like Thane, Kalyan and even beyond. ''We are making provision for new rakes as we acquire them,'' he said.

Agrawal said punctuality on the suburban network rose by 2 per cent due to the improvement in the working of the system. ''We are continuously monitoring and taking steps to plug loopholes,'' he said.

He also assured better basic facilities for the commuters. He said the issue of toilets and lavatories across the stations would be taken on a priority basis. He insisted on making the trains much cleaner so that the passengers are not hassled.

Agrawal also assured to expedite laying of new lines and enhancing carrying capacity as and when the freight lines are built.