Mumbai: ‘CR spends way more than WR on escalator maintenance’

Representation Pic

An RTI query by an activist has revealed that Central Railway (CR), despite spending more money on escalator maintenance compared to Western Railway (WR), does not maintain records of malfunctioning and stoppages. While WR's cost per escalator is Rs 1.85 lakh per annum for 106 escalators between Churchgate and Virar, CR's cost for maintenance of each of the 101 escalators between CSMT-Kalyan and Vashi is Rs 2.97 lakh.

RTI activist Anil Galgali claimed that CR was incurring a loss of Rs 1.13 crore per annum due to the situation. "Asked about stopping and malfunctioning of escalators, WR had ready information and explained that 1,825 escalator closures occurred last year and that 95 per cent of emergency button pressing was done by unidentified miscreants causing the escalator to shut down. CR officials admitted that the information about the closure and malfunctioning of escalators was not available and that information only on escalators closure on special days could be provided on request," he said.

Galgali expressed surprise at the difference in cost of Rs 1.12 lakh regarding escalators under two railways in Mumbai. CR chief public relations officer Dr Swapnil Nila said, "The maintenance cost of escalators on CR includes the cost of accessories, which may not be the case with WR." The RTI query states that one escalator is stopped on WR about 1,825 times in a year of which 95 per cent is due to pressing of emergency button by unidentified miscreants. At this rate, a total of 106 escalators are stopped 1.96 lakh times in a year.