Mumbai: After the Mumbra incident, the Railway Board announced that all suburban trains will be equipped with automatic door closers. Over a dozen passengers fell from a crowded Kasara-CSMT fast local train near Mumbra railway station on Monday.
A senior officer of the Railway Board stated in an official social media group that all rakes currently under manufacturing for the Mumbai Suburban network will be equipped with automatic door closing systems. Additionally, all existing rakes in service will be redesigned, and door closer facilities will be provided in these rakes.
Mumbai’s suburban railway system operates over 3,000 services daily using more than 250 rakes. Of these, only about 15 are currently equipped with automatic door closers and air conditioning. The remaining rakes are non-air-conditioned and lack automatic door safety systems. The average daily number of suburban passengers in the suburban network of MMR is around 7 million.
However, this is not the first time Indian Railways has announced such a redesign for Mumbai's suburban trains. According to sources, in the first week of January 2020, Western Railway, under the supervision of the Railway Board, conducted a trial to retrofit automatic door closers in three non-AC coaches. During the trial, it was observed that during peak rush hours, the level of suffocation inside the non-AC coaches exceeded permissible safety limits. As a result, the project was shelved.
"Now, in the aftermath of the Mumbra incident, the Railway Board has once again proposed redesigning existing rakes. However, it remains unclear how this redesign will be implemented and whether the issue of ventilation in non-AC coaches with closed doors has been resolved" said a retired official of Indian Railway who don't want to be quoted.
