Central Railway submits motion plan on monitor security to Bombay High Court

The disclosure was made by way of an affidavit filed by Pravindra Wanjari, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Mumbai Division of Central Railway, in reference to a Public Interest 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.

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

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

The affidavit famous that whereas the Railways was implementing a collection of long-term structural upgrades, real-time mitigation continued to be constrained by land acquisition delays, monsoon circumstances, and excessive visitors quantity that restricted daytime work. “Central Railway Suburban system in itself is a posh community. During monsoon, the work will get slowed down, as no digging is finished as a consequence of security causes. Further, the work is to be carried out making certain the protection of a giant quantity of visitors. Major 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 elimination and boundary wall building and so forth., 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 could kindly be appreciated, and it might not kindly be construed as inaction or gradual motion,” the Railways knowledgeable the court docket.

Safety measures

The High Court was additionally knowledgeable of a number of security initiatives already applied below the “Mission Zero Death” marketing campaign. These included fencing at 47 platforms, plugging of 204 trespass-prone openings, elimination of over 1,260 encroachments, and set up of warning techniques and illusionary posters at high-risk spots. 

At Diva station, the place accidents have 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 difficulty of falls from shifting trains, the Railways has undertaken knurling on seize poles, added further 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 stress. 

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. 

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

While affirming its dedication to commuter security, the Railways urged the court docket 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 bettering passenger security,” the affidavit said. 

The High Court has given two weeks’ time to the petitioner to submit recommendations, if any, to the affidavit of the Railways.