Mumbai: 81 per cent votes in Twitter poll for closed-door local trains

Photo for representational purpose

A commuter poll conducted by social media handle Roads of Mumbai (RoM) on Twitter has revealed that people prefer closed-door local trains and BEST buses as a safety measure to keep crowds under check. The #RoMPoll conducted over five days - October 30 to November 3 - received 646 votes. About 81 per cent of the total votes are in favour of trains and buses with the door-closing facility. Only about 18 commuters voted in favour of open-door trains.

A senior railway official said that the new AC local trains have the door-closing facility and the railways, as a part of the larger plan, intends to eventually convert the entire fleet into AC locals over the next couple of years. However, a study conducted on the feasibility of closed-door locals revealed that high carbon-dioxide levels inside the trains would cause suffocation.

"In fact in January this year the Western Railway (WR) conducted trials of closed-door trains. The mechanism was fitted in a normal non-AC train and trials were undertaken. This helped list problems that are likely to be faced during actual operations," an official said.

"Suffocation and delay were two primary problems that came to the fore in the four-day trial between Churchgate and Virar. The report submitted by the railways stated there were two major factors - high carbon-dioxide levels inside closed-door coaches due to lack of ventilation and delay at every station," he added.

The report also states that on an average time at every station would increase by 25-30 seconds. Given this calculation, the schedule of the trains might get affected if the facility is introduced. The report also said, "Train lights had to be switched on during non-peak hours due to considerable reduction in brightness after doors were closed."

The WR's 15-car train project is set to be complete in a month and the carrying capacity of locals would increase by about 25 per cent once it is operational by next year. "All stations along the slow corridor on the Andheri-Virar section will have 15-car platforms to accommodate the longer trains by year-end as work is in the final phase," a senior official said. Sanctioned in 2017-18, the R59.56-crore project includes work on about 27 platforms of 14 stations between Andheri and Virar.

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