Mumbai railway's anti-trespassing drive a success. Here's why

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In what could be termed as a success in controlling trespassing to a minuscule extent, the Central Railway on Thursday said that it had been successful in curbing line crossing or trespassing deaths at Dadar station with no new cases reported after February 15 this year. The railways, as a policy measure, have taken up anti-trespassing measures and is on a spree of building bridges with escalators and lifts to discourage line crossing.

"It is a continuous battle and we have been working on it. For example, in the past six months, boundary wall gaps have been closed at more than 100 locations. A new boundary wall of approximately 13km has been constructed in last one year alone and we have undertaken more than 7,000 campaigns to create awareness against trespassing in last one year, fining over 7,000 commuters for track crossing. It is significant to note that there have been no trespassing related deaths at Dadar station since February 15," Central Railway's chief public relations officer Sunil Udasi said.

Giving elaborate details of the works, Udasi said in the past 18 months, 42 new foot bridges have been constructed, 49 escalators and 22 lifts.fob constructed in last 18 months. In 2019, we have targeted completion of 39 bridges, 172 escalators at 56 suburban stations and 65 lifts at 31 suburban stations," he added.

The multi-crore project is being taken up under phase three of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project for mid-trespassing control. Sources said mid-trespassing measures include erecting tall concrete cement walls along the tracks, fencing and creating partition between two rail lines, nearly 100 foot-over bridges both on CR and WR, creating green patches and flower nurseries on larger areas between two stations and removing stairs from end of platforms.

Works in 2018

• 14 Foot Bridges: Neral, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Parel-2, Currey Road, Ambivali, Chunabhatti, Sewri, Mumbra, Bhandup, Kalva-Sarveshwar Nagar, Ghatkopar-Pant Nagar, Masjid.
• 49 Escalators: Thane-4, Dadar-4, CSMT-4, Dockyard Road, Lonavala-2, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-6, Byculla-2, Sewri, Vadala Road-3, Mankhurd-2, Currey Road, Kalva, Matunga, Nahur, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Ambarnath, Asangaon-3, Shahad, Karjat, Kasara, Chembur-2, Diva, Kalyan-2, Parel
• 22 Lifts: Chembur-2, Dadar-2, Mankhurd-2, Reay Road, Vadala Road-2, Lonavala-2, Thane-4, Tilak Nagar-2, Dombivali-1, Kalyan-2, Parel.

Planned in 2019

• 39 Foot Bridges
• 172 Escalators at 56 suburban stations
• 65 Lifts at 31 suburban stations

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