THE RAILWAY Ministry has decided to install automatic door closing systems in existing and new local trains on the Mumbai Suburban network, following the deaths of four commuters and injuries to nine others who fell from overcrowded trains in Thane district on Monday, officials said.
A senior official said that after the incident, the Railway Minister and Railway Board officials held a detailed meeting and tasked the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai with manufacturing non-air-conditioned local trains with automatic doors for Mumbai Suburban services.
“The first train of the new design will be ready by November 2025 and after necessary tests and certification, it will be put into service by January 2026,” said Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, while speaking to PTI.
“This is in addition to the 238 AC trains already under manufacturing for Mumbai suburban services,” Kumar added.
Officials said work is also ongoing to redesign existing non-AC local trains to improve ventilation so that automatic door closing systems can be installed.
The Railway Minister and Railway Board officials held a detailed meeting with the ICF, Chennai team on Monday to address the issue, officials said.
“The purpose was to find a practical solution to the issue of automatic door closing in local non-AC trains in Mumbai. The major issue with automatic door closing in non-AC trains is suffocation because of reduced ventilation,” a railway official said.
Kumar said the new non-AC trains will undergo three major design changes to address ventilation concerns.
“First, the doors will have louvres. Second, coaches will have roof-mounted ventilation units to pump in fresh air. And third, the coaches will have vestibules so that passengers can move from one coach to another and balance out the crowd in a natural way,” he said.
Four commuters died and nine were injured after falling off two overcrowded local trains in Thane district during the Monday morning rush hour, officials said.
The incident occurred near Mumbra railway station when the trains were passing each other on a steep turn.
Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway, said the victims were travelling on the footboard of two trains—one headed to Kasara and the other to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai.
According to the police, the commuters were hanging from the doors of the crowded trains and their backpacks brushed against each other as the trains passed in opposite directions.
The guard of the Kasara-bound train alerted the railway authorities. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, where four were declared dead on arrival, officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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