Soon, multi-purpose stalls on Western line platforms

Western Railways plans to relocate the stalls on the platforms and construct a single stall which will sell multiple items including eatables, drinking water and newspapers. This move is part of crowd control and management after the horrific stampede at Elphinstone Road station on September 29.

The officials said that a multi-purpose stall needs to be constructed on the railway platform for the commuters’ easy movement.

“Stations, namely Dadar, Virar, Andheri, Borivali and Goregaon station have large number of tea stalls and fruit juice stalls on the platforms which make themcongested. Our plan is to relocate these stalls and construct one stall which sells both food items and drinking water,” said an official from western railway.

The statistics maintained by WR also revealed that railway stations on the western line which includes Palghar, Virar, Goregaon, Bandra, Andheri and Mumbai Central have a total of more than ten stalls on their railway platforms.

“Improvements like widening of the Foot-Over-Bridge at stations like Dadar, Nallasopara, Charni Road and Virar stations needs to be done on a priority basis. The multi-purpose stall would help the commuters as there will not be any obstructions on their way as they walk on the railway platform,” said the official.

Each department of western railway has been assigned the work of ascertaining the proper footfall at each stations. “The multi-purpose stalls would be constructed depending on the number of stalls at each stations and the footfall on that particular station. The number of stalls to be constructed is yet to be decided,” said the official.

The audit report would be submitted by the teams formed by western railway on Monday. “We are conducting an audit of at least 36 stations on the suburban section of Mumbai division,” said Ravinder Bhakar, Chief PRO of western railway.