Western Railway cancels 200 local trains: As WR cancellations begin, Friday witnesses heavy footfall of parallel Metro lines from Dahisar to Andheri
The cancellation of trains caused major crowding at Borivli station
Western Railway cancels 200 local trains: The first day of Western Railway (WR) blocks resulted in mega crowds at stations due to pre-planned train cancellations. A tactical shift by WR commuters to the new Metro lines and an unexpected derailment of a freight train at Vasai in the evening further affected services on the Diva-Vasai rail line.
To counter the crowds and chaos, Western Railway (WR) authorities said they had deployed additional security at stations and also deployed plain-clothes cops to monitor any rumour-mongering that may lead to chaos among crowds. The new Metro lines—Yellow Line 2A and Red Line 7—came much to the rescue of commuters as authorities witnessed a sharp spike in numbers.
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“At local train stations of Borivli, Andheri, Malad and many others, there were very big crowds as the train frequency had dropped beyond five minutes. As trains were delayed and detained, crowds swelled at stations,” commuter Ram Keswani said. Another commuter, Monil Nitin Parikh said “A few hours back, Borivli station was extremely crowded. Mumbai will get new rail lines which will ease a lot of congestion, but while the new lines are being laid, the situation is very bad.”
Railway authorities say they made arrangements to manage the crowds but seem to have fallen short
Railway officials said that the crowds were expected and they were trying to control them with additional security staff that had been deployed. “Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff has been withdrawn from non-sensitive and less important beats and deployed for crowd regulation at platforms, foot overbridges etc. in coordination with Government Railway Police (GRP) to avert any sudden crowd build-up leading to a stampede-like situation. So far, 359 RPF personnel and 178 GRP personnel, including officers, have been deployed round the clock for crowd regulation at platforms, foot overbridges etc,” a WR spokesperson said.
According to the official, RPF staff has also been deployed for guarding stabled trains in the yards. “Post in-charges have been instructed to remain present around the platform area to monitor passenger crowds and take security arrangements in coordination with GRP, local police and the railway administration. Staff in plain clothes have been deployed to keep a watch on rumour-mongering which may lead to a stampede-like situation. In addition to station announcements, loud hailers have been given to RPF to advise the public about the cancellation of train services. CCTV monitoring is being handled by trained, skilled staff supervised by officers from time to time,” the spokesperson said, adding that generally crowded places like platforms etc are being constantly monitored.
Giving details of the derailment in the evening, a WR spokesperson said two wagons of an empty goods train got uncoupled and derailed at Vasai yard at 5.17 pm, infringing platform Nos. 6 and 7 even though the main line remained clear. “Two Diva-Vasai trains hag to be short-terminated and reversed from Kaman Road,” the official said.
Metro sees surge in footfall
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Metro registered today’s ridership at 8 pm with 1,99,670 passengers, clearly indicating a surge in demand for the service. “The Metro has been witnessing a consistent 5 per cent increase in ridership every month, highlighting its significance as an affordable mode of transport for Mumbaikars. If the need arises, our existing Metro services have the capacity to accommodate even more passengers. MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner, Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, said, adding that the crowd is being closely monitored and informed decisions will be made to provide additional services if necessary.
Metro passenger footfall till 8 pm on Friday was 7,000 more commuters as compared to the previous day. So far, the highest number of commuters in a single (full) day reached an impressive 2.43 lakh on October 19, 2023, as per an earlier note.
5.17 pm
Approx time goods train derailed at Vasai yard
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