Double-decker locals for city? Rlys to check

THE BENCH WAS HEARING A PIL RAISING CONCERN ABOUT SAFETY OF LOCAL TRAIN PASSENGERS

MUMBAI: The railways on Friday assured the Bombay high court that it would test the feasibility of double-decker rakes on suburban tracks in Mumbai.

Additional solicitor general Anil Singh accepted the suggestion made by the division bench of acting Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Girish Kulkarni that the railway administration should attach a few doubledecker coaches to a train and test their feasibility for the suburban sector in Mumbai.

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Sameer Zaveri, raising concern about safety of local train passengers. The judges said the railways should try to decongest suburban rakes through some innovative methods such as double-decker rakes. Singh replied saying experts have tested all possible alternatives – additional underground tracks beneath existing lines, elevated tracks and even double-decker rakes — and found that none was feasible in Mumbai. Increasing the number of rakes for every service was the only option, said Singh, and railways increased the number of bogies for every service from nine to 12.

Singh further said a long distance train with double-decker rakes already runs between Mumbai Central and Surat, but it was not a practical option for the suburban service as it would mean double the number of passengers at every station, making crowd control difficult. Singh also said there are inherent limitations on expansion of stations and platforms because of space constraints, and therefore, the option was ruled out by experts.

Singh, however, agreed to test the feasibility of double-decker rakes after the judges asked if the railways had ever attached double-decker coaches to a suburban train and studied the results. “There is no use of a theoretical study. You must attach a few double-decker coaches to a suburban train and study the results before arriving at a conclusion,” said the bench. The bench was also shown a newspaper report indicating that 90 suburban passengers lost their lives in 10 days in Mumbai. The judges said the railways must undertake awareness campaigns to sensitise suburban commuters, especially students, to not perform stunts on trains.