Mumbai: Central Railway to examine entry-exit points at all stations

The auto-rickshaw that entered Kurla railway station on October 12

The Central Railway (CR) is doing a recheck of entry-exit points at all stations. The move comes amid criticism about porous station borders in the city after an auto-rickshaw entered Kurla station on October 12 due to lack of barricading. A few weeks prior to the incident, an auto-rickshaw and bike had similarly entered Ambivli and Shahad railway stations respectively.

According to the Kurla Railway Protection Force (RPF), the latest incident occurred around 1 am when the vehicle entered platform 1 of Kurla station from the side of the escalator. Ironically, the RPF and station manager's office are on the same platform.

The vehicle that landed at Ambivli station in early September

"The railway police claim that the auto driver was new to Mumbai and entered the platform by mistake thinking the station access road was a common path and he could enter without any hindrance. This is pure neglect on part of the railways in keeping borders open for a three-wheeler to enter the station," Subhas Gupta of Yatri Sangh Mumbai said.

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On September 8, an auto-rickshaw driver was nabbed for driving his vehicle onto a platform at Ambivli railway station four days earlier.

Earlier this month, a man was found riding his motorcycle on a platform of Shahad railway station using the ramp prepared for disabled commuters.

"With such porous stations, such incidents could pose a threat to train operations and the overall security of passengers inside trains. Stations at the road level seem to be offering new kinds of level crossings for vehicles now," J R Gupta, an activist-resident from Kurla, said.

A CR spokesperson said, "We are going to do a survey of all stations to pinpoint such porous borders and barricade them so as to prevent the recurrence of such events."