TWEETS @singhvirat246
The Western Railway (WR) has lined up three ambitious projects to cut recent train delays that have made the everyday commute a nightmare for lakhs of Mumbaikars.
The suburban network, which until last year prided itself on its punctuality, has been facing 10 to 20-minute delays since March, when it increased the number of services. The delays result from a host of bottlenecks exposed by the increased frequency, from complex track alignment, narrow platforms to outdated signalling.
Now, railway officials have decided to solve the problems at three major stations — Borivali, Andheri and Dadar — as part of what they are calling one of WR’s biggest suburban overhauls.
The three projects will involve remodelling of tracks on the Dahisar-Borivali stretch and on Andheri section, and widening of a platform at Dadar, two major engineering challenges on a transit system cramped for space. WR BOTTLENECKS
“We are finalising details of the projects that will help decongest the suburban network,” said Divisional Railway Manager Shailendra Kumar. “The work will be carried out over the next two years. The tender for Borivali has been issued.”
Among the city’s three train networks –– Main, Harbour andWestern—WR was considered the best, mainly because of its punctuality. That changed after it increased the number of daily train services from 1,051 to 1,305, and reduced the time between two train arrivals to three minutes from four. Now, 50 to 60 trains run behind schedule daily.
“Our main focus now is to improve the timings, so commuters are not inconvenienced,” Kumar said. The track remodelling projects planned for Borivali, Andheri and Dadar stations may begin as early as next month. The work will speed up movement of trains on these crucial sections.
“At Borivali, two south-bound trains currently cannot enter platform 5 and 6 simultaneously. One train has to wait,which has a knock-on effect on other services,”asenior WR official said. The problem is caused by the alignment of the crossover, the point where two sets of rails converge, before Borivali. “The shifting of this crossover towards Dahisar will speed up entry of trains at Borivali,” the official said.
A similar exercise will be carried out at Andheri and Dadar. “There are many crossovers near Andheri, which force north and south-bound trains to slow down,”hesaid.AtDadar, south-bound fast trains face delays because their designated platform, No 4, is narrow. Also, overcrowding at the platform forces trains to halt longer, delaying services. The platform will be widened after realignment of tracks.
Somit Sen TNN
Mumbai: A motorman of a Western Railway train jumped a signal between Churchgate and Marine Lines stations on Saturday. Had the auxiliary warning system (AWS) not stopped the train immediately after the violation, it would have collided with another local that was switching tracks at that time.
The train left Churchgate at 10.31am and within two minutes, as it crossed from platform 4 to 3, the motorman, identified as Shaikh Ansar, breached signal 831 near the Marine Lines station. The local overshot the red light, coming in the way of an oncoming local, which
was switching from platform 2 to 4. The auxiliary warning system (AWS), installed on trains as well as tracks, stopped the first local immediately, averting a collision that could have risked the lives of commuters on both trains.
While passengers said the train remained stuck on the tracks for 25 minutes till the signal was rectified, a railway spokesperson claimed the incident did not affect services.
The motorman has been taken off duty. Railway officials said on Sunday an inquiry was “still being conducted”. “We are trying to ascertain the reason behind the violation,” a senior official said. Sources said usually the motorman and the guard are both sent for blood tests to see if they were drunk.
Saying there have been very few incidents of trains passing a stop signal without officals’ nod, a WR official said they had “adequate measures to rule out collisions following signal jumping”. Under AWS, a motorman is alerted if a train breaches a signal. “Even if he fails to stop the local, the train automatically comes to a halt within 100m,” he said.
—Manthan K Mehta
Mumbai: Commuters can get wi-fi service at stations and in moving trains if railway authorities approve plans of a cellular firm, which wants to offer the technology by piggybacking on Central Railway’s initiative that allows real-time tracking of trains on smartphones.
A cellular firm has approached CR’s Mumbai divisional office with a proposal that will allow commuters to use wi-fi. An official explained, “As soon as a commuter with a smartphone enters a suburban station on CR, a pop-up will appear on his cell that will display the real-time status of trains (through trainenquiry.com). The commuter can use the service for say, five minutes, to track the position of trains. If he wants to use wi-fi for longer, he will have to pay for it.”
