The Central Railway on Monday submitted earlier than the Bombay Excessive Court docket {that a} multi-disciplinary probe into the June 9 Mumbra railway tragedy, during which 5 commuters died after falling from an overcrowded native practice, was underneath approach and the ultimate report was at the moment underneath overview.

The disclosure was made via an affidavit filed by Pravindra Wanjari, Senior Divisional Business Supervisor, Mumbai Division of Central Railway, in reference to a Public Curiosity Litigation (PIL) petition filed in 2024, which sought pressing measures to deal with fatalities from monitor crossing and falls on Mumbai’s suburban rail community.

Based on the Railways, preliminary observations from the Mumbra incident pointed to a harmful mixture of “monitor curvature” and “passenger imbalance” attributable to the simultaneous passing of two quick native trains.

A multi-disciplinary workforce all based mostly in Mumbai, CSMT, who had been constituted to analyze the incident included key officers from divisional heads of respective branches having data in rail security and operations: Senior Divisional Security Officer, Senior Divisional Safety Commissioner, Senior Divisional Operations Supervisor (Basic), Senior Divisional Engineer (South), and the Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer (Traction Rolling Inventory Operations).

The officers are conducting an in depth investigation into the accident to search out out the precise trigger and discover a decision to passenger security considerations. The report of the committee is underneath investigation.

The affidavit famous that whereas the Railways was implementing a sequence of long-term structural upgrades, real-time mitigation continued to be constrained by land acquisition delays, monsoon situations, and excessive site visitors quantity that restricted daytime work. “Central Railway Suburban system in itself is a fancy community. Throughout monsoon, the work will get slowed down, as no digging is completed attributable to security causes. Additional, the work is to be carried out making certain the protection of a giant quantity of site visitors. Main work is carried out solely throughout night time blocks. Supervisors are concurrently engaged for normal upkeep works. Land acquisition points, encroachment points, public resentment in encroachment removing and boundary wall building and so on., additionally delay the work. Railway Administration is dedicated to offer protected and cozy journey to the commuters, and all honest efforts are all the time taken in that regard. The difficulties in execution of works might kindly be appreciated, and it might not kindly be construed as inaction or gradual motion,” the Railways knowledgeable the courtroom.

Security measures

The Excessive Court docket was additionally knowledgeable of a number of security initiatives already carried out underneath the “Mission Zero Loss of life” marketing campaign. These included fencing at 47 platforms, plugging of 204 trespass-prone openings, removing of over 1,260 encroachments, and set up of warning methods and illusionary posters at high-risk spots. 

At Diva station, the place accidents had been frequent, a focused mixture of escalators, barbed wire boundaries, platform fencing, and steady RPF deployment has led to a marked discount in fatalities, with no reported deaths since August 2023. 

To handle the problem of falls from transferring trains, the Railways has undertaken knurling on seize poles, added additional handles in Siemens rakes, and slewed tracks to cut back crowding between main stations like Sion-Kurla and Mulund-Thane. Over 800 institutions have been requested to stagger workplace timings to ease peak-hour strain. 

In the long run, the Railways plans to assemble 43 new foot overbridges (FOBs), set up 139 escalators and 62 lifts by December 2027, and implement main hall upgrades, together with the Panvel-Karjat and Kalva-Airoli suburban hyperlinks, and a brand new Thane station to decongest the central line. 

Knowledge submitted by the Railways confirmed that in 2024 alone, 674 individuals died from monitor crossing and 387 from falling off trains. Within the first 5 months of 2025, 293 and 150 such deaths had already been recorded, respectively.

Whereas affirming its dedication to commuter security, the Railways urged the courtroom to acknowledge the operational complexities of Mumbai’s high-density rail system. “Delays in work execution shouldn’t be construed as inaction. We stay dedicated to enhancing passenger security,” the affidavit said. 

The Excessive Court docket has given two weeks’ time to the petitioner to submit options, if any, to the affidavit of the Railways. 

Revealed – July 15, 2025 04:20 am IST