Catching a moving train? Blue light to stop you
The Central Railway (CR) has devised a novel idea to warn commuters against boarding a moving train. The CR has planned to install blue light at the gates of coaches to guide the passengers about the train’s movement. “It will help the railways reduce the number of accidents. Most commuters try to board a train in motion,” said a CR official.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal confirmed the development. “In Mumbai, for the passengers climbing in the train, blue light is being installed at the gate of the coach, which will guide the passengers that the train has started. It will prevent accidents when the passengers are trying to board the train.”
The CR has installed a blue light visual indicator just above the entrance of one EMU coach for guiding the commuters not to board the running train, at the last moment. Unlike METRO Trains or AC EMUs, which have an electronic door closer and due to the impracticality (suffocation, etc) of providing doors on non-AC EMU coaches, the blue light visual indicator is being tried at present.
“The blue light visual indicator shows when not to board the train before it is unsafe and draws a boundary on the platform which is the minimum clearance level for commuters to avoid accidents while the train is in motion,” said a railway official.
The work of installation of blue lights was carried out in Kurla Carshed of CR under the guidance of DK Sharma, GM, CR. “We will be monitoring the performance of the new blue light visual indicator and based on outcome and commuter feedback, it will be decided whether the lights should be installed at other suburban trains,” said Sunil Udasi, CPRO, CR.
Meanwhile the commuters have raised a question stating what should they see while boarding a train a light on head or platform or gap between the platform and coaches. “We are always in hurry to board a train so we can occupy the seats. The initiative won’t make any difference to commuters’ life,” said a commuter.
Another commuter said instead of wasting money on such things the railway should improve services, a major issue during peak hours.
Visual Indicator emits a beam of light over the entrance when a train starts, taking a direction from the guard, who signals to start. Thus, the commuter is alerted and warned of the danger of being too close to the train on the platform, thereby guiding him/her to back off. The device will definitely act as a psychological barrier from boarding the moving train and also as a deterrent to people not to board the running train.