Mumbai: Greased platforms to deter trespassing on the Central line

Workers make the railing and the end of a platform slick as part of the initiative

In a bid to discourage commuters from jumping onto the tracks, Central Railway's (CR) Mumbai division has decided to grease both ends of the platforms to make it difficult for people to climb on to and descend from their edges. The novel experiment, which seeks to encourage the use of foot overbridges and underground subways, has evoked a mixed reaction among commuters.

The whole idea is to discourage people from jumping onto the tracks. It not only leads to accidents but also to the slowing down of trains in the system and a host of related repercussions. In a bid to discourage that, the idea is to apply grease and make grease puddles to discourage people from venturing beyond the edges of platforms," an official said.

Trespassers at CBD Belapur station

A CR spokesperson said, "Even though the ends of platforms are fenced off to avoid trespassing, some space is left in order to adhere to SOD [schedule of dimension] requirements. Therefore, as a very low-cost innovative step, grease has been applied to fencing and at the platform floor within a fixed frame. Belapur CBD is one such station. This is expected to stop people from climbing on platforms from ends. Passengers are requested to avoid trespassing onto the tracks to ensure safety and use only authorised staircases, lifts and escalators."

Activists react

City activist Mustaq Ansari of the Pothole Warriors Foundation said, "Central Railway needs to be very careful while doing this. Please mention that there is grease. Passengers may slip and fall and get injured. They should be fined for crossing tracks. Why take a shortcut and risk your life?"

"I think it is a good idea and good work by CR as it will discourage commuters from making that quick jump," said Subhash H Gupta of Rail Yatri Parishad. Commuter Mehfooz Shaikh said, "It will not last long. They have applied grease but it will dry out or melt in the humid sun. This makeshift solution won't work. The Railways should do something effective."

Other measures

In addition to measures like applying grease, the CR will also start cutting the slopes found on the ends of platforms to prevent commuters from trespassing on rail lines. Divisional Railway Manager Rajnish Kumar Goyal gave the example of Thane station where people come dangerously via the Thane Creek bridge to save a few minutes; as this could be life-threatening.

The other locations where trespassing is high are at Wadala, Parsik and Raoli junction. "We will be demolishing 171 of the 286 ramps across all railway stations in the suburban section. These are the slopes which are heavily used by commuters to trespass on to or out of the railway premises," Goyal added. Railway officials claim that more than 60 per cent of deaths on rail tracks happen while trespassing on railway lines," Goyal added.

Tragic statistic

In 2022, official figures reveal that 124 people had died due to trespassing on CR. Goyal said they had taken several steps in light of this such as increasing the height of platforms, due to which the gap between the platforms and trains has been reduced and installing fencing, which eventually led to a significant drop in casualties and injuries.

WR services disrupted

Western Railway services at Dahanu were disrupted following a snag in the overhead wires on Tuesday night and the effect was felt till late on Wednesday morning. Several trains were delayed, but suburban local trains mostly remained unaffected. "There was an overhead equipment breakdown at Dahanu Road station at 11 pm on October 31. The Churchgate-bound line was cleared at 12.14 am. The Surat-bound line was restored at 10.25 am with a speed restriction of 60 kmph. There is no effect on suburban trains between Churchgate and Virar," a WR spokesperson said. Around 12 mail/express trains were delayed in the up direction on Wednesday morning. Seven mainline EMU trains and 12 Dahanu locals were cancelled, the spokesperson added.

124
No of trespassers who died on CR in 2022

286
No of ramps at suburban CR stations

124
No of people who died due to trespassing on CR in 2022