Late-running services to blame for commuter deaths, finds WR panel.

Jan 10 2016 : Mirror (Mumbai)

Late-running services to blame for commuter deaths, finds WR panel

Kamal Mishra TWEETS @KMMIRROR





Report calls for comprehensive reforms, doesn't let passengers off the hook either

A Western Railway panel has concluded that a delay in services is a major cause of overcrowding in trains, which is leading to more people dying on the tracks.Mirror has obtained an exclusive copy of this report--the committee comprised members of parliament, railway activists, BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation director RS Khurana, and other senior railway officers, including the additional general manager and the Chief Public Relation Officer of Western Railway.
The report points out that Western Railway runs fewer trains run during the evening rush hour as compared to the morning rush hour, even though the evening peak sees more overcrowding. 134 services are run during the morning peak hours and only 124 during the evening. 9.3% of passengers use these services between 6 and 7 pm. A few committee members also blamed the Western Railway's timetables. This included MP Gopal Shetty, who said the train timings should be `rationalized.' The report recommended the completion of the missing link between Mahim and Santa Cruz on the 5th line, asking for it to be finished at the earliest. This would allow some mail and express trains to be diverted, freeing up space for local trains.
The report also recommended segregation of the suburban traffic from the main line, stating that the local trains should get their own corridor and at least four lines should be earmarked exclusively for them.Reduction of the inter signal distance between Borivali and Virar would also reduce headway and increase track capacity.
Both the Western and Central Railway had set up high-level committees to study the root cause of death on the tracks, on the orders of Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu.This after the video of techie Ganesh Nakate falling to death off a train went viral.
According to the report, two-hundred and forty five people died falling off trains in 2015 (till November). This is the second biggest contributor to deaths on the tracks and accounts for 20% of the total number of railway deaths. A large number of deaths occurred between Jogeshwari and Borivali and Vasai and Vaitarna. It was determined that a detailed safety audit for these areas be carried out.
The report also made several other recommendations for Western Railway. One was to make 50% of its trains 15-coaches. As of now, only two out of eighty-four rakes have 15 coaches. Another was for the government to adopt staggered timings for offices and the stock market to break up the flow of passengers. The committee also advised modification of the poles in the new Siemens rakes to facilitate a firmer grip after members of the public complained that they were unable to hold onto the smooth surfaces of the poles.End to end fencing of station premises and providing subways at every 500 metres to allow the quick discharge of passengers were also advocated. Automatic closing doors for non-AC EMUs were also suggested. The report counselled Western Railway to raise the height of track dividers to discourage young travellers from crossing the tracks.
The report also blamed the difference in platform height and the floor level of the trains. It didn't spare commuters either--saying they board and alight when the train is moving and avoid using the foot-overbridges and subways. It said that such intuitive passenger behaviours should be discouraged through the use of posters, sensitization campaigns and counselling of passengers by ticket checking staff and RPF and GRP personnel.
The Central Railway report may be submitted before 20th January, according to a senior CR officer. That report seems to be focusing on cab signalling on the harbour and trans-harbour line and the slow main line corridor.

Not a single person helped him. He died pleading for help. See the video, how a person hanging on a train died. He boarded the train from Dombiveli. SHAME SHAME.

Not a single person  helped him. He died pleading for help.

Dombivli resident Nakate had boarded an overcrowded train bound for CST on November 27. He could not properly get inside and was hanging outside the compartment. He lost his grip and fell on tracks.

Another commuter in the same coach recorded the disturbing incident on his mobile camera. Seconds before he fell off the train, Nakate can be heard pleading for help.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) rushed him to a hospital, but he died before doctors could do anything. A GRP spokesperson said that an inquiry had been initiated and officials were trying to contact the pas senger who shot the video and make him a witness.

Prabhu sets up panel to put commuters' safety on track. 21-year-old IT professional Bhavesh Nakate's death spurs efforts to understand passengers' problems, ease crowding on trains Three days after 21-year-old IT professional Bhavesh Nakate fell off a crammed train and died, Union Railway Minister Suresh Parbhu on Monday ordered setting up of a high-level committee to look into the problems of Mumbai commuters.

Dec 01 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

Prabhu sets up panel to put commuters' safety on track

Kamal Mishra TWEETS @KMMIRROR





21-year-old IT professional Bhavesh Nakate's death spurs efforts to understand passengers' problems, ease crowding on trains

Three days after 21-year-old IT professional Bhavesh Nakate fell off a crammed train and died, Union Railway Minister Suresh Parbhu on Monday ordered setting up of a high-level committee to look into the problems of Mumbai commuters.The committee, which will comprise railway and state government officials, and representatives of NGOs, will conduct public hearings and submit a report to the railway ministry within a month.
Prabhu also sought an awareness campaign to sensitise commuters to safe travelling practices. The campaign follows a letter written by Dombivli resident Vishwanth Biwalkar, who urged Prabhu to take urgent measures to improve train services and rail safety in the wake of Nakate's death.
Biwalkar emailed the letter to Prabhu on Sunday, and on Monday morning, an official from the railway ministry rang him up and assured him of corrective steps. “The official told me that an awareness campaign would be started on Tuesday. He said that commuters should give suggestions to improve safety on trains,“ Biwalkar said. AK Singh, chief security commissioner of Central Railway, confirmed that the campaign would be launched. “We will warn commuters about the dangers of boarding a moving train and leaning out of compartments. We will also deploy more personnel at major stations to prevent untoward incidents,“ Singh said.
Dombivli resident Nakate had boarded an overcrowded train bound for CST on November 27. He could not properly get inside and was hanging outside the compartment. He lost his grip and fell on tracks.
Another commuter in the same coach recorded the disturbing incident on his mobile camera. Seconds before he fell off the train, Nakate can be heard pleading for help.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) rushed him to a hospital, but he died before doctors could do anything. A GRP spokesper son said that an inquiry had been initiated and officials were trying to contact the pas senger who shot the video and make him a witness.
“We are also reviewing the CCTV footage at Dombivli station, from where Nakate had boarded the train, to find out what exactly happened,“ a GRP officer said.
On Tuesday, many commuters from Dombivli and Kalyan plan to tie black rib bons on their clothes to protest against rail way officials' failure to prevent overcrowding RORU .
on trains. “How many deaths will it 48 pages* take for railways to improve safety?“ 4090 asked Kalyan resident Ranveer Singh.
| DOLLAR 66.8 | EURO 70.7 | GBP 100.4 ATIONAL VIDEO OF Parasnath Tiwari, chairman of Yatri Suvidha Seva Sangthna, said that more people had died in train-related incidents in Mumbai in a year than in terror attacks across the country.
Diva, Kalyan-Kasara and Thane pas sengers' associations will hold a condo lence meeting at Dombivli station at 8 am on Tuesday.

Start-up dream cut short by fall from train. Parents of 22-yr-old Dombivili youth, whose fall from crowded train was captured in a video by a commuter, want change and not compensation for son's death

Nov 29 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

Start-up dream cut short by fall from train

Ankita Bhatkhande





Parents of 22-yr-old Dombivili youth, whose fall from crowded train was captured in a video by a commuter, want change and not compensation for son's death

Parents of the 22-year-old Dombivili youth, who fell to his death from a local train on Friday, have not yet mustered enough courage to watch a video shot by a fellow commuter that captured the moment of their son's fall.For a family yet to come to terms with the sudden death of their youngest son, perhaps not watching the video clip is the biggest sign of their denial.It was a normal day for Bhavesh Nakate who had boarded a local train from Dombivili to go to his office in Worli on Friday, but little did he know that the ride was about to be his last ever. In a bid to enter the crowded compartment of the 8.49 am-train, Nakate commenced his journey by hanging from the door ­ hoping to get inside at some point. The widely circulated video shows Nakate hanging onto the pole near the gate, until he could not anymore and falling off. He was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Shastrinagar.
Chasing the start-up dream, Nakate had earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Model College, Kalyan. He worked as an operations executive for a website called Hopscotch and planned to start his own venture in a few years.
“His funda was simple. He wanted to work hard for a few years and then fund his own start-up venture. This was always his plan,“ 27-year-old Vishal Nakate, Bhavesh's brother said, as he recalled times spent with his fun-loving brother. Being a cricket-buff, he would always try to fit watching all the matches in the city into his schedule, Vishal added.
Nakate would work throughout the week and then rejuvenate himself on Sundays through his particular interest in the holistic way of living life as propagated by the Art of Living initiative.His friends knew him as a fan of this al ternate lifestyle and his Facebook page abounds with motivational posts matching the same.
After losing their son, the Nakate's do not want any compensation in return. But they would surely want the situation in local trains to improve so that nobody else loses somebody they love because of the peak-hour rush.
Nakate on the fateful day was running late for work and therefore must have boarded the train in a desperate bid to make it on time, his neighbourhood friends said.
“The trains at Dombivili are always so crowded. He must have thought that missing a train would not make any difference as no matter how many of them you miss, it is always this crowded,“ the friend, who did not want to named, added. “I regret not being able to even warn him of any danger as he had never had any train-related accident before,“ Vishal said.
Despite not hoping for any real change to take place after his son's death, he said, “I don't expect the authorities to do anything for improvement in the situation, but I will tell everybody to not sacrifice their lives by taking such crowded trains. It is alright to be late but not alright to lose one's life because of it.“

697 commuters died after falling off trains this year. An RTI query has revealed that the number of deaths due to victims falling from local trains has gone up in the last decade. In 2005, 494 people died after falling from local trains, and the toll this year has already reached 697 (till November 20).

Nov 29 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

697 commuters died after falling off trains this year

Kamal Mishra TWEETS @KMMIRROR





More people are losing lives after falling off packed trains compared to 10 yrs ago

An RTI query has revealed that the number of deaths due to victims falling from local trains has gone up in the last decade. In 2005, 494 people died after falling from local trains, and the toll this year has already reached 697 (till November 20).The worst year in terms of such casualties was 2013, when 901 people died after falling from trains. It was an increase of 82% as compared to the death toll in 2005, said RTI activist Anis Khan, quoting a reply received from Government Railway Police (GRP).
Questions are being raised about the commuters' safety, the local trains' capacity, and the railways' ability to respond quickly to an emergency, after a 21-year-old Dombivili resident fell off a crowded CST-bound local during the peak hours on Friday, resulting in his death.
The pictures above are grabs of a video recorded by another commuter in the second class compartment, in which the victim, Bhavesh Nakate, was desperately trying to get a foothold.
Khan said that the railway administration has failed to provide a safe and comfortable journey to the people. Most passengers who fall or slip from the running trains are struggling to get inside the compartment, just like Nakate. “The victims lose their grip and fall off, or get dashed against a pole near the railway track,“ Khan said.
As per the statistics provided under the RTI query, 7,686 people died after falling off trains in the last 10 years, while more than 22,000 were killed while crossing the tracks.
Activists said that the suburban railway network was on the “verge of a collapse“. Transport expert Ketan Goradia said, “A local train's capacity is around 1,700 people, and during the rush hours, it carries around 5,000 commuters. You can imagine the plight of the commuters. It's a miracle that people don't die of suffocation inside the compartments.“
A senior Western Railway official said that the railways were doing “everything possible“ to provide a comfortable transport, but “beating the population explosion was beyond anyone's control“. “If you compare the Mumbai suburban train network with its counterparts across the world, you'll see that we cater to the most number of people,“ the official said.
The commuters and experts, however, said that the railways could have done a lot more. “The system needs an overhaul. Signalling, station and platform layouts, track maintenance, converting all 12coach trains into 15-coach trains...obviously, the railways have a lot of work to do,“ said PC Sahagal, former MD of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Nigam.

Unconscious woman found beside rly track in Bhandup. Police have been unable to identify her; officials say she may have fallen off a moving local train, admitted her to Rajawadi Hospital

Nov 26 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

Unconscious woman found beside rly track in Bhandup

Kamal Mishra TWEETS @KMMIRROR





Police have been unable to identify her; officials say she may have fallen off a moving local train, admitted her to Rajawadi Hospital

Merely 36 hours after a medical student was pushed out of a moving local by a mobile phone snatcher, another woman was found unconscious near the railway tracks between Nahur and Bhandup after having fallen from a moving train. The incident occurred early in the morning on Wednesday.According to Government Railway Police (GRP) officials, at around 7 am on Wednesday, a commuter approached the station master at Kurla and told him that a lady, about 40 years of age, was lying unconscious near the tracks close to the pole marking a distance of 27.3 km from CST. The station master found her with the help of the Kurla GRP and had her admitted to Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar.
The victim, who is as yet unidentified, is still unable to move or speak. Vidya Thakur, medical superintendent of Rajwadi hospital, said she was grievously injured and has suf fered from multiple fractures in the head.
When asked about the incident, a senior GRP officer said, “Although she has some marks of injury on her hand, she suffered a severe injury only to the head. Prima facie it appears to be a case of falling down from a moving train. She has also not been identified.“
“We have informed all police stations in the central suburb about the incident and put out an alert for any reports about missing persons,“ he added.
The officials say the victim was found wearing a yellow metal chain, two bangles, two rings and four white metal rings. She was dressed in a pink Punjabi kurta and white churidar pyjama.
“We searched around the spot but didn't find any documents that would reveal her identity,“ said an official from GRP, Kurla.
This is the latest in a slew of such incidents that have dogged the central line. Last year, 797 deaths were attributed to falling from suburban trains.This year, the figure has already crossed the 700 mark, said a GRP official.
“Railway administration has completely failed to provide safe and comfortable transport to the passengers,“ said Advocate Swati Jain, who regularly uses the service to travel from CST to her residence in Dombivli.
“I think the basic reason why people are dying like animals is that railway officers have entirely failed to comprehend the hardships of the commuters,“ said Sudhir Katdare, another regular commuter from Thane. “Most of the passengers fall or slip from the trains when they struggle to get into a coach and fail to enter it, or when they get dashed against one of the poles next to the railway tracks,“ he added.
Upon being contacted by Mirror, Narendra Patil, chief public relations officer of Central Railway, said that the GRP and RPF are examining the case.
A railway official who did not wish to be named said, “It is true that the number of cases of passengers falling from trains has gone up, but this number also includes those cases where people lost their lives while performing stunts.“

City's track record logs improvement, deaths down 15%. Deaths on tracks fall from 4,029 in 2006 to 3,423 in 2014 Foot over bridges, track dividers, fencing, raised platforms were critical in curbing fatalities on suburban train network, say railway officials

Sep 05 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

City's track record logs improvement, deaths down 15%

Sanjeev Shivadekar mirrorfeedback TWEETS @MumbaiMirror





Deaths on tracks fall from 4,029 in 2006 to 3,423 in 2014Foot over bridges, track dividers, fencing, raised platforms were critical in curbing fatalities on suburban train network, say railway officials

The number of fatalities recorded on Mumbai's sub urban rail network dipped 15 per cent from 2006 to 2014, a number that assumes significance when juxtaposed with the increase in train services and commuter traffic in the corresponding period. The number of routes increased from nearly 2,326 in 2006 to close to 2,600 in 2014, while the passenger population went up by 15 per cent, from 61 lakh to 72 lakh.According to figures compiled by Government Railway Police (GRP), 4,029 fatalities were recorded in 2006 and 3,423 in 2014; the average number of deaths per day decreased from 11 in 2006 to nine in 2014 (see box). The railways has implemented several measures to curtail deaths on the tracks (see box). “We've increased rail services [to ease crowding], constructed foot over bridges, closed level crossings and increased safety awareness among commuters,“ said Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relation officer (Western Railway).“There's been an application of scientific method in preventing accidents.“
Vinit Kumar, secretary and chief public relation officer (central railway) said, “To bring down fatalities the administration has launched special drives to discourage trespassing.Apart from deterrent drives the administration also plans to conduct public awareness programmes to ensure that commuters follow safety norms.“ A senior GRP officer, who asked that his name be withheld, said a majority of deaths occurred due to trespassing while a bulk of the remaining fatalities were caused by commuters who fell off moving trains ­ he was unable to provide Mumbai Mirror the component quantities to substantiate that claim.
Other than trespassing, the “gap trap“ ­ the space between the coach and platform ­ has posed significant difficulties in curbing fatalities, officials said. According to GRP statistics, the gap claimed 79 per cent more lives in Mumbai in 2014 than in 2013; 34 people in 2014 as against 19 the previous year.
To address this, the height of most platforms have been raised from 840 mm to 920 mm in 45 of the 76 stations in Mumbai, a Central Railway official said. “The efforts taken by the railway administration and police in past few years have started yielding positive results,“ said GRP commissioner Madhukar Pandey. “But efforts are on to bring down these numbers even further.“
Railway activist Samir Zaveri acknowledged that the measures have been largely effective. “They have resulted in the reduction of fatalities,“ he said. “But the administration's aim should be zero deaths on tracks.“