The railway minister Piyush Goyal has directed all the railway officials to keep commuters safety on forefront and to take appropriate measures to provide hassle free travel. The Railway Board will meet within a week to finalise modalities.
According to the railway official, they will also introduce more 15-car trains and AC locals on both Central and Western Railways. All these points was discussed in a meeting held at Sahyadri guest house on Thursday. “The minister also discussed on to reduce the deaths due to trespassing, falling down from train. Around 183 identified spots of Mumbai suburban will be fenced with strong and high wall to curb trespassing,” said a senior railway official.
Sources who attended this meeting said that the minister wanted the authorities to treat cover over platform for Mumbai suburban stations as safety work like the platforms and FOBs. At several stations the roof over platforms and even staircases are missing at places.
Besides intensifying the awareness campaign on trespassing, the railway decided to fast-track the manufacturing of air-conditioned manufacturing train that has automatic door closure system. “ More ideas were discussed for capacity augmentation and curbing accidents on tracks,” said a railway officer.