Minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari, on Tuesday said the focus of the government would be on transporting liquid cargo such as LNG, LPG, methanol, CNG and edible oils by Railways and waterways instead of roads, in a bid to reduce pollution and traffic congestion.

He also said that all ports would be turned into green ports.

The minister further said the Centre would fund the setting up of a centre of excellence at IIT-Chennai to provide technical support for cost-effective dredging at all ports and to study and advise the ministry on marine engineering-related matters. He also said logistic parks would be developed in Paradip, Chennai and Vizag to handle freight.

“We are trying to bring this cost down to around 12 per cent which would make Indian goods more competitive in the international market,” Gadkari said, adding that the government was prioritising coastal transport and inland waterways compared to road and rail mode as costs were significantly lower for the former.

“For every Rs 10 of transportation cost by road, it is Rs 6 for railways and only Rs 1 for waterways. That means you would be able to transport goods spending only 10 per cent of the current cost,” said Gadkari, who is also the Road Transport and Highways Minister.

“There are 111 rivers which we have decided to develop as inland waterways. Out of these, work has already started on 10 rivers,” he said. “These waterways will significantly reduce logistics cost.”

Even as the government was focusing on developing waterways, work was simultaneously being done at a fast pace to bring down logistics cost on roads as well, the minister said.

For the first time in five years, Central Railway will induct 13 brand new local trains in Mumbai. The first of these already reached Mumbai from Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory of Indian Railways on Monday. Most likely, the new trains will ply on Harbour line.

All 72 trains procured in last five years under the second phase of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-II) were given to Western Railway.

Commuters on the Harbour line travel on old dual current (AC-DC) locals which are suffocating as they have very poor illumination and ventilation.

Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation spokesperson quoted in the report said that new locals are procured under nine-coach to 12-coach extension project and all new trains are expected to be delivered by March next year.

Popularly known as Medha local as the electric control system in the trains are developed by Medha Servo Drives in Hyderabad, they cost Rs 42 crore each and can run at the speed of 110 kmph.

Visually, Medha locals are similar to the trains procured from Bombardier and are equally advanced as other MUTP I and MUTP II locals. The only difference is the electric system that includes traction motors and train control system fit in the rakes.

The 12-car train will carry 33 percent more load on the Harbour line than the existing trains. All 13 trains have cost the Railways Rs 714.1 crore. Presently, total 51 old local trains run in Mumbai, 41 on Central Railway and 10 on Western Railway.

The report also says that these trains will replace the existing rakes instead of being introduced as new trains in addition. The officials are also considering running the new trains on the main line and trans-harbour line.

Central Railway runs the main line (CST to Karjat, Kasara and Khopoli), Harbour line (CST to Panvel) and trans-harbour line (Thane to Navi Mumbai).

In September, Rail Minister Piyush Goyal had said that in next three years, the number of trains running on the suburban network will be doubled.

He also unveiled a roadmap for 100 new services in next four months for the commuters of local trains in Mumbai.

To facilitate passengers, the Central Railway (CR) has decided to demolish over 3,000 unauthorised structures located on railway’s land, including 63 religious structures with the help of local authorities.

After the stampede at Elphinstone Road station, in a joint meeting headed by minister of railways Piyush Goyal held at Churchgate, several multi-disciplinary teams were formed, which audited the stations on the city’s suburban network and submitted a report.

“During the audits of the station premises, many unauthorised structures were found which were creating inconvenience for the passengers,” said a railways officer, who was also a part of the disciplinary team.

In all, 63 religious structures such as, a Ganesh Mandir at GTB Nagar and Matunga stations; Saibaba Mandir at GTB Nagar, Sion, and Dadar stations; Hanuman Mandir at Dadar station; Mahadev Mandir at Dadar station, Datta Mandir at CSMT, and Masjid/Dargah at CSMT have been shortlisted for demolition by the railway officials. Officials also added that they do not want to hurt religious sentiments, and are only trying to safeguard the Railway safety and commuters’ lives.

Railways, BMC evict squatters from Elphinstone, Parel stations

The railways and BMC have finally decided to make peace with each other over whose responsibility it was to remove the encroachments near the foot overbridge (FOB) of Elphinstone Road and Parel stations. A week after reports in the media highlighted that nothing had changed since the stampede took place, teams of the Central Railway, civic body, Railway Protection Force and Mumbai Police demolished the hutments lining the approach road to the FOB.

Sunil Udasi, CPRO/Central Railway, said, “It was a special drive conducted by the Mumbai division. About 33 hutments were removed from the Parel side. The space will now be protected so that the structures don’t come up again.”

Sources said that though the FOB on the western side of the Elphinstone Road-Parel station, where the stampede had taken place, has been opened up after removing the panels on the side; the authorities concerned are planning to widen the staircase.

The encroachments that had come up in the area had narrowed down the approach road to the station and was also making it difficult for commuters to move about freely. Sources said that once all the encroachments, including an illegal temple, are removed, there would be a lot of space for free movement.

BMC chalks ‘laxman rekha’ outside Mumbai’s local railway stations to fend off hawkers

Saint Valmiki in the ancient Indian poem ‘Ramayana’ mentioned the ‘Laxman Rekha’ as an imaginary line that was drawn to ward off evil spirits and keep Sita safe.

As part of their drive to make railway surroundings and premises safer for commuters, India’s richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) along with the Railways has decided to adopt a similar concept in keeping hawkers stationed outside railway stations from entering the premises or vending in restricted zones.

Demarcation lines marking 150-metre zones to restrict hawkers from vending in the restricted areas were drawn by the civic body on Monday outside Mahim, Matunga, Dadar and Sion railway stations to ward off the ‘nuisance’ of hawkers.

The move comes in the wake of Bombay High Court’s order banning hawkers from vending on foot overbridges and near railway stations.

We have drawn lines indicating a 150-metre perimeter around railway stations. We have deployed a special team comprising senior inspectors and four workers with a van to monitor hawker encroachment. Currently, they work two shifts. But these nuisance detectors will work for 24 hours. We will also demarcate zones outside schools and religious places, assistant commissioner G (north) ward Ramakant Biradar told.

This move by the civic body has affected the daily livelihoods of hawkers pushing their trades near local railway stations. The BMC has become strict but we want to see how long this lasts, said one of the affected hawkers.

A major stampede at the Elphinstone Road station that claimed 23 lives on September 29 can clearly be noted as the reason behind the crackdown on hawkers vending outside and around local railway stations in Mumbai.

A list of habitual offenders who move around from one spot to the other near various stations is also being prepared and additional security personnel have been deployed to monitor the situation, said a spokesperson with the Railways.

SAIL’s Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), Chairman, PK Singh has laid emphasis on giving value addition to its products and tailoring the product quality rather than focusing only on the volume aspect.

He said the DSP’s modern 1MTPA (million tonne per annum) capacity medium structural mill (MSM) is capable of producing world-class structural steel products, having a high demand for various on-going and upcoming infra and construction projects in India.

Singh also said with the Railways replacing its conventional coaches with German technology carriages in the next few years, wheels for new LHB Railway Coaches are in advanced stages of validation at Durgapur plant. The metallurgical testing of the wheels has already been completed.

He said that DSP is a plant designed to produce 7.5 lakh tonnes of semis (type of steel product), where SAIL-DSP in association with Centre for Engineering & Technology (CET) will tap the huge market for special grade semis. The semis would also explore possibilities in transmission line towers (TLT) and forging areas.

At DSP, the mill is producing parallel flange beams, joists, channels and angles, which are primarily used by infrastructure and construction segments. There is an increased demand of these products in the sectors like infrastructure, metro and construction, he said.

While expressing displeasure over tardy progress in critical areas of strategic importance, he said “SAIL must ramp up production from New Rail Mill in Bhilai without wasting any more time, and meet all the requirements of its major customers. Company should chalk-out a time bound action plan to cater to the Indian Railways’ increasing demand. SAIL must take its joint ventures at international level to logical conclusion at the earliest. Company must leverage its position in the industry, instead of not being able to fulfill its commitments and agreements.”

In October, the Minister for Steel Mr.Birendra Singh also directed to the company management to submit quarterly plans and targets, which will be reviewed after every three months. Steel Minister will also be meeting CEOs and EDs of Steel plants next month, to get direct feedback about constraints, bottlenecks and issues of concern.

The CEOs have to understand their direct accountability and responsibility for performance of the Unit under their charge, the Minister added. Mr.Singh emphasised that accidents in the Plants must be curtailed and highest safety standards must be adhered to in all Units. Safety should be a prime focus of all the plant heads and stress should be given on repair and regular maintenance to avoid unforeseen breakdowns, downtime and resulting loss of production. SAIL should focus on ensuring raw material security to avoid the vagaries of coal supplies currently afflicting the company, he added.

Birendra Singh said that SAIL should explore possibilities for developing new markets by adopting new technology and adding value added products to its basket, like non corrosive steel products for construction in coastal areas. SAIL should also focus on product differentiation to create value for the shareholders, thereby creating an exclusive space for the company. Efficiency improvement and product quality improvement at individual plant level should be focused upon to meet the customer requirements and to improve the financial performance of the company.

In the meeting, SAIL’s overall performance as well as that of individual Integrated Steel Plants (ISPs) on critical techno-commercial parameters were reviewed. Chairman/SAIL Mr.P. K. Singh made a presentation on action taken on the recommendations by Group of Experts appointed by Ministry of Steel.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Steel, Vishnu Deo Sai, the Secretary Steel Dr. Aruna Sharma, senior officials from Ministry and SAIL including CEOs of SAIL Steel Plants.

Work on the proposed Foot Over Bridge (FOB) between Platform number 10 of Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (Bengaluru City) Railway station and the KSR Metro station via M G Railway Colony Road came to a halt three months ago. The reason — BMRCL is yet to release Rs.90 lakh sought by Bangalore Railway Division to complete the work.

The bridge is meant to ensure that both Metro and Rail passengers can easily commute between the two transportation modes. This FOB will be connected with the railway bridge in KSR station which connects all platforms from Platform 10.

As per the agreement entered between the two agencies, Railways will do the construction work while BMRCL will fund it. The FOB has missed two deadlines given by top railway officials — March and July.

According to Senior Divisional Engineer, Co-ordination, Bengaluru Railway Division, R K Singh, the FOB was initially estimated to cost Rs.93.48 lakh in 2013 when the proposal was made. “The cost was revised to Rs.188 lakh, with a maintenance cost of 30 per cent that Railways will incur along with other charges,” he told.

A letter written by a top BMRCL official to Railways last month requesting to waive off the maintenance charges as it was not listed in the initial estimate. The letter states that Railways needs to bear the maintenance charges. However, Railways insists that BMRCL bear the full cost. Asked about the reasons for the FOB showing no signs of completion, Divisional Railway Manager R S S Saxena said, “Work relating to the covering shelter and landing facilities for the bridge have not been completed due to paucity of funds. The moment they release it, we can restart the work.”

The DRM also said that in a meeting held with BMRCL officials on November 5, “The Metro MD promised to release funds within a week’s time.”Singh said the contractor carrying out the work for Railways is yet to be paid his dues of Rs.30 lakh. “If BMRCL releases Rs.99.29 lakh, the FOB will be ready for use by February 2018.

SECUNDERABAD: In order to clear extra rush of passengers, the following Special Trains will run between Tirupati – Dharmavaram – Tirupati as detailed below:-

Train No. 07402/07401 Tirupati–Dharmavaram–Tirupati Special Trains:

Train No. 07402 Tirupati – Dharmavaram Special train will depart Tirupati at 05:00 hrs from 8th November to 14th November 2017 and arrive Dharmavaram at 10:40 hrs on the same day.

In the return direction, Train No. 07401 Dharmavaram – Tirupati Special train will depart Dharmavaram at 13:00 hrs from 8th November to 14th November 2017 and arrive Tirupati at 19:10 hrs on the same day.

Enroute, these special trains will stop at Pakala, Piler, Madanapalle Road and Kadiri stations in both the directions.

These trains will comprise of one AC II Tier, two AC III Tier, ten Sleeper Class and four General Second class Coaches.

Special Trains between Kakinada Port- Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam

In order to clear extra rush of Passengers during spiritual festivities of Bhagawan Sri Satya Sai Baba from 12th to 26th November, 2017 at Puttaparthi, SCR will run four special trains between Kakinada Port – Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam – Kakinada Port as detailed below:-

Tr.no. 07248/07245 Kakinada Port – Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam – Vijayawada Special Trains (2 Services):

Train No. 07248 Kakinada Port – Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam special train will depart Kakinada Port at 14:30 hrs on 18th November, 2017 and arrive Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam at 06:25 hrs on the next day.

Enroute, this special train will also stop at Kakinada Town, Samalkot, Rajahmundry, Nidadavolu, Eluru, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narsaraopet, Donakonda, Markapuram Road, Giddalur, Nandyal, Betamcharla, Dhone, Gooty, Anantapur and Dharmavaram stations.

In opposite direction, Train No. 07245 Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam – Vijayawada special train will depart Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam at 17:45 hrs on 19th November, 2017 and arrive Vijayawada at 05:15 hrs on the next day.

Enroute, this special train will also stop at Dharmavaram, Anantapur, Gooty, Dhone, Betamcharla, Nandyal, Giddalur, Markapuram Road, Donakonda, Narsaraopet and Guntur stations.

Tr.no. 07246/07249 Vijayawada – Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam – Kakinada Port Special Trains (2 Services):

Train No. 07246 Vijayawada – Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam special train will depart Vijayawada at 23:10 hrs on 23rd November, 2017 and arrive Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam at 11:30 hrs on the next day.

Enroute, this special train will also stop at Guntur, Narsaraopet, Donakonda, Markapuram Road, Giddalur, Nandyal, Betamcharla, Dhone, Gooty, Anantapur and Dharmavaram stations.

In opposite direction, Train No. 07249 Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam – Kakinada Port special train will depart Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam at 16:20 hrs on 24th November, 2017 and arrive Kakinada Port at 09:30 hrs on the next day.

Enroute, this special train will also stop at Dharmavaram, Anantapur, Gooty, Dhone, Betamcharla, Nandyal, Giddalur, Markapuram Road, Donakonda, Narsaraopet, Guntur, Vijayawada, Eluru, Nidadavolu, Rajahmundry, Samalkot and Kakinada Town stations

*These special trains will have AC II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper Class and General Second class coaches.

Train No. 04428/04427 New Delhi – Kochuveli – New Delhi Superfast Special Trains via Warangal, Vijayawada (2 Services):

Train No. 04428 New Delhi – Kochuveli superfast Special Train will depart New Delhi 11:50 hrs on 8th November, 2017 (Wednesday) arrive/depart Warangal at 12:20/12:25 hrs, Vijayawada at 15:5/15:50 hrs on the next day and arrive Kochuveli at 15:45 hrs on Friday.

In the return direction, Train No. 04427 Kochuveli – New Delhi superfast Special Train will depart Kochuveli at 23:00 hrs 12th November, 2017 (Sunday) arrive/depart Vijayawada at 21:00/21:15 hrs, Warangal at 23:40/23:45 hrs on the next day and arrive New Delhi at 04:00 hrs on Wednesday.

Enroute, these superfast special trains will stop at Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal, Itarsi, Nagpur, Balharshah, Warangal, Vijayawada, Renigunta, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Thrisur and Ernakulam Town stations in both the directions.

These trains will have AC III tier, Sleeper Class, Second General and Brake Luggage cum Generator Car Coaches.

Train No. 07230/07229 Hyderabad – Kochuveli – Hyderabad Special Trains (2 Services):

Train No. 07230 Hyderabad – Kochuveli Special Train will depart Hyderabad at 21.00 hrs on 09th November, 2017 (Thursday) and arrive Kochuveli at 03.20 hrs on Saturday.

In the return direction, Train No. 07229 Kochuveli – Hyderabad Special Train will depart Kochuveli at 20:00 hrs on 11th November, 2017 (Saturday) and arrive Hyderabad at 03:40 hrs on Monday.

Enroute, these special trains will stop at Secunderabad, Kazipet, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Vijayawada, Tenali, Ongole, Nellore, Gudur, Renigunta, Tirupati, Chittoor, Katpadi, Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Ottapalem, Thrisur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Kayankulam and Kollam stations in both the directions.

These trains will have AC II tier, AC III tier , Sleeper Class and Luggage cum Brakevan Coaches.

Additional Stoppage to Guwahati – Kochuveli – Guwahati Special Trains at Kishanganj Railway Station

With the view to facilitate the passengers, additional stoppage for five minutes is provided for Train No. 05616/05615 Guwahati – Kochuveli – Guwahati Special Trains at Kishanganj Railway Station as detailed below:-

Train No. 05616 Guwahati – Kochuveli Special Trainwill arrive / depart Kishanganj station at 17:00/17:05 hrs.
Train No. 05615 Kochuveli – Guwahati special Train will arrive / depart Kishanganj station at 22:03/22:08 hrs.

Meanwhile, Railway had issued a press release on the diversion / cancellation of certain trains.

Trains Diverted­­­­ With Additional Stoppage Provided at Hijli

In order to facilitate infrastructure development works at Kharagpur Station in South Eastern Railway a line block is imposed, consequently the following trains are diverted to run without touching Kharagpur Station and with provision of additional stoppage at Hijli Railway Station on the following dates.

1) Train No.22603 Kharagpur – Villupuram Bi- weekly Express Train scheduled to depart Kharagpur on 17th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili 14.12/14.17 hrs.

2) Train No.12514 Guwahati – Secunderabad Express Train scheduled to depart Guwahati on 16th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 03.00/03.05 hrs.

3) Train No.22604 Villupuram – Kharagpur Bi- weekly Express Train scheduled to depart Villupuram on 16th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 19.05/19.10 hrs.

4) Train No.12508 Guwahati – Thiruvantapuram Express Train scheduled to depart Guwahati on 17th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 03.00/03.05 hrs.

5) Train No.22502 New Tinsukia – KSR Bengaluru Express Train scheduled to depart New Tinsukia on 17th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 03.00/03.05 hrs.

6) Train No.12509 Bengaluru Cantt – Guwahati Express Train scheduled to depart Bengaluru Cantt on 15th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 07.45/07.50 hrs.

7) Train No.12253 Yesvantapur – Bhagalpur Express Train scheduled to depart Yeshvantapur on 18th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 19.50/19.55 hrs.

Train No.15227 Yesvantpur – Muzaffurpur Express Train scheduled to depart Yesvantpur on 15th November, 2017 will arrive/depart Hijili at 10.50/10.55 hrs.

Trains Diverted due to recent floods in Samastipur Division of East Coast Rly

1) Train No. 07091 Secunderabad – Raxaul Special train which has left Secunderabad on 7th November, 2017 is diverted via Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Sagauli and Raxaul instead of Samastipur, Darbhanga , Sitamarhi and Raxaul stations.

2) Train No. 07092 Raxaul – Secunderabad Special Train scheduled to depart Raxaul at 12.45hrs on 10th November, 2017 is diverted via Raxaul, Sagauli, Muzaffarpur and Samastipur instead of Raxaul, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga and Samastipur Stations.

Trains Cancelled due to Sudden Foggy Weather in Northern Railway ­­­

1) Train No. 04426 Nizamuddin – Kochuveli Special Train is cancelled on 11th , 18th and 25th November,2017.

2) Train No. 04425 Kochuveli – Nizamuddin Special Train is cancelled on 13th , 20th and 27th November,2017.

EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY DIVERSION OF TRAIN

Train No. 22691/22692, KSR Bengaluru – Hazrat Nizamuddin – KSR Bengaluru Rajdhani Express will continue to run via diverted route, Gooty – Kalluru till 31st March, 2018 for operational reasons.

CANCELLATION OF TRAINS

1. Train No. 12245, Howarah – Yesvantpur Duranto Express journey commencing on 19th November, 2017 is cancelled.

2. Train No. 12246, Yesvantpur – Howarah Duranto Express journey commencing on 21st November, 2017 will remain cancelled for want of rake.

TEMPORARY DIVERSION OF TRAINS

Train No. 12509, Bengaluru Cantt. – Guwahati journey commencing on 15th, 16th & 17th November, 2017; Train No. 15227, Yesvantpur – Mujaffarpur journey commencing on 15th November, 2017; Train No. 12503, Bengaluru Cantt. – Kamakhya journey commencing on 17th November, 2017; Train No. 12253, Yesvantpur – Bhagalpur journey commencing on 18th November, 2017 will be diverted via Hijilli, Nigatpur, Asansol instead of Kharagpur, Howrah.

Train No. 22502, New Tinsukiya – KSR Bengaluru journey commencing on 17th November, 2017 will be diverted via Asansol, Nigatpur, Hijilli instead of Howrah, Kharagpur.

In a move that could reduce costs and quicken construction of the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, the road transport and highways ministry offered right of way to the railways to build part of the project alongside the upcoming 380-km Vadodara-Mumbai expressway.

The road ministry has already acquired almost 3,200 hectares of land for the expressway and has offered right of way to the Indian Railways along the entire corridor between Vadodara and Mumbai for the bullet train project. Vadodara is 110 km from Ahmedabad and is a major trade centre along with Surat on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai corridor.

“The total project cost of the expressway is around Rs 40,000 crore and majority of it consists of the land value that we have acquired between the two cities for constructing the six-lane highway. The alignment of both rail and road corridor is almost the same between Mumbai and Vadodara,” a government official said.

The Indian Railways is yet to acquire land for the Rs 1.08 lakh crore bullet train project. The government aims to complete the Japanese International Cooperation Agency funded project by August 2022.

According to the official, the move could save Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore for both the road and railway ministries and save the railways the task of acquiring land for the 380-km route. The total length of the bullet train project is 508 km. If the bullet train is aligned with the expressway, the railways would only need to acquire land between Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

“The right of way offered to railways could remove all land acquisition hassles for the national transporter along with reducing the cost of acquisition, especially in parts of Maharashtra such as Thane and other nearby Mumbai cities where land acquisition is nearly impossible now,” the official added.

The road ministry is of the view that a rail-and-road corridor would be complementary, with bullet train carrying only passengers and the expressway used mostly for freight and by short-distance travellers.

A top railway ministry official said the proposal is being considered by the Railway Board. The bullet train project, launched in September by PM Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, will cut travel time between the two cities to less than three hours.

For the first time ever, the Railways have started installing sharp, barbed metal wires – called concertina wires – to seal illegal entry and exit points on railway premises across Mumbai and dissuade people from crossing tracks.

Every year, around 3,000 people lose their lives on the local railway network. Of these, most people die while crossing tracks. To deter people, the Railways have, in the past, built cement-concrete walls along tracks, but there are many spots where the walls have been damaged or broken deliberately to allow illegal entries and exits.

On September 29, the Mumbai suburban train services saw one of the worst catastrophes in its history when 23 commuters lost their lives in a stampede at Elphinstone Road railway station. An enquiry committee of the highest level was formed, and the entire railway system is mobilizing to review and rework the way it provides passenger amenities and safety facilities.

Officials hope the wire fences will help reduce the number of track deaths.

The Railways have already started identifying vulnerable spots on the local suburban network and installing these spiked fences. Central Railway (CR) officials said they have fitted them along the tracks on the Thane-Airoli, Currey Road-Chinchpokli and Parel-Dadar stretches. “We are fixing wires at stretches commonly used to cross tracks,” said SK Jain, DRM.

The audit teams formed after the Elphinstone Road station stampede on September 29, to arrive at both short- and long-term measures to prevent a repetition of the incident that claimed 23 lives, recommended that a 17.5km-long concrete wall be built to seal railway boundaries.

Previously, the Railways have installed iron barricades between tracks at railway stations as people would hop across tracks to change platforms instead of using the foot over-bridges. These barricades have proved quite useful in stopping such trespasses at stations.

But this incident was about more than overcrowding a narrow foot bridge. It should compel policymakers to rethink transportation integration at a larger level.

Much of the focus after the deadly accident has been on adding more capacity. But if adding more train service was such an easy solution, then the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transportation Project (MUTP), which has cumulatively invested more than $1.4 billion to upgrade and enhance suburban railway infrastructure, would have had a bigger impact by now. Instead, despite more than 2,800 suburban train services a day reaching some 8 million Mumbaikers, the average commuter still faces “super-dense crushed load” conditions, with up to 16 hapless commuters per square meter of train space.

In initiatives like MUTP, it is frequently assumed that new capacity will bring more comfort to riders. The first phase of MUTP aimed to bring down the number of passengers per train on the Western Railway during peak periods from 4,500 to 3,600, but could only achieve 4,016. The next phase started from a baseline of 5,400 peak hour passengers per train on the Western Railway route and set a more realistic target of 4,000, but could only achieve 5,257.

And herein lies the reason why project after project has failed to decongest Mumbai’s notorious rail system. Commuters are like water, always flowing through the path of least resistance. As long as the rail system is the only option for many people, more capacity will simply be filled with more demand. In the case of Mumbai suburban, the extra capacity created during peak hours was easily occupied by those who previously used other modes of public transport, private vehicles or previously traveled during non-peak hours. Indeed, after phase two of the MUTP, the World Bank’s independent evaluation group acknowledged that “better services increased demand more than had been expected.”

Yet, some policymakers have yet to learn these lessons. The third phase of MUTP is currently focused on quadrupling the length of track and adding additional train services.

To truly reduce congestion on suburban trains in the medium to long term, planning must take into account the bigger picture and become much more integrated.

Some 22 percent of commuters on Mumbai suburban trains travel less than 10 kilometers. Many could easily be shifted to non-motorized transport modes, like walking and cycling, if they had access to adequate and safe infrastructure. The example of congestion at Elphinstone Road is pertinent here. A large chunk of Central Railway route passengers get down at Dadar to catch the slow local to the next two stations, Elphinstone Road and Lower Parel. If there was well-developed cycling infrastructure integrated with the railway system, many commuters could easily cycle the 2.5-kilometer distance from Dadar to these stations instead.

It would take just a fraction of the $1.4 billion invested in MUTP projects to date to develop robust, sustainable cycling and walking infrastructure. Such changes would decongest trains far more effectively than adding more service. If needed, further mode shifts could be encouraged through fare changes to balance congestion and encourage healthy, sustainable modes of transport.

Why hasn’t this been done already? Fault lies with the institutional structure of the transport sector. India is the only country among the top 100 economies of the world where responsibility for transportation is segregated by mode across multiple government agencies. There is the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Shipping, and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Each handles some aspect of transport policy, but barely talks to the others. Add in the various state governments and you have a complex labyrinth of departments with virtually no convergence. There could be millions invested in a project within one ministry, but when an issue requires inter-departmental or inter-ministerial coordination, then no matter how beneficial the resolution might be for citizens, departmentalism makes it difficult to achieve. The case of universal ticketing for trains in Mumbai is a glaring example. After more than two years of futile attempts by the railways, Maharashtra Government and Mumbai Metro, there is nothing to show.

What Mumbai needs is not just more foot bridges, escalators and trains but a more mature and nuanced treatment of the transport policy landscape. Developing multiple modes of citizen-centric, integrated transport, with a focus on cheap and sustainable options, would go much farther toward preventing the next Elphinstone Road disaster than more tracks and more trains.

A safety sprawl will be conducted by ‘Safecity’ to understand issues with sexual harassment, infrastructure.

MUMBAI: Commuters travelling in local trains and crowded railway stations have been facing harassment issues every day. Recently there have been instances where women commuters had come forward to report about the harassment they faced while commuting at the railway stations.

In order to check how safe the railway stations in the city are, a group of activists along with citizens will be conducting a social audit called the ‘safety audit’ at three railway stations on the Western line.

While the first safety audit was conducted on November 8, Wednesday at Goregaon railway station, the other two social audits will be conducted in the afternoon at Andheri station on Thursday and Borivali railway stations on Friday.

The safety audit is organised by the NGO Safecity to evaluate and improve the safety of citizens by identifying problems and reporting it to the concern authorities.

As per the organisers, the objective of the safety audits is to assess the railway stations from the angle of safety and existing infrastructure. The organiser, said, “We will be communicating with commuters of all genders at the stations to understand the occurrence of sexual harassment at these stations. We are building an understanding of the needs of people and infrastructure for safer public transport (railways) and look forward to your suggestions.”

Other commuters who want to report any sexual harassment at stations can report it online at safecity.in.

A few years ago, as per a study conducted by another NGO revealed that many women have a tendency to not report instances of sexual harassment.

They have ignored sexual harassment faced by them or others out of fear of the consequences. It was also found that overcrowded trains, congested platforms, narrow footbridges make train travel more dangerous for women.