Mumbai: Railways, BMC in final stages of staggered schedules project

Officials say the timings will be such that they enable social distancing on trains. Pic/Satej Shinde

Railway officials and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are close to cracking staggered timings for offices that will sync with its suburban train timetable once the lockdown is lifted completely, in addition to Metro-style control access flap gates to be started as a pilot project at Churchgate and Mumbai CSMT by September-end. Railway officials said they could eventually schedule suburban trains based on staggered office timings and ward-wise working population. BMC officials did not immediately respond to calls and messages but railway officials confirmed the development.

"We have been working closely with the municipal commissioner's office on staggered timing schedules for offices based on civic wards. We hope to institutionalise the utility by the time full-fledged suburban services resume," WR's Divisional Railway Manager GVL Satyakumar said.

Using QR code data

"The idea is to map out which office in which civic ward works at what timing. For example, Mantralya will work in a particular shift, the WR divisional office at a different time. The QR code system is a boon in disguise. It is already building an excellent database of workers, which is giving us a rough data of workers at various offices. After mapping is done and load distribution is assessed, we can get a fair idea of staggered timings and accordingly we will sync the suburban services," he said.

Railways plan to schedule trains based on number of commuters from civic wards. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Satyakumar said they will have to even the flow with staggered timings and once that is done, it becomes a manageable task. "Right now, it looks impossible, but it can be done. As of now, we have issued around 2 lakh QR codes and we have data of their travel patterns. We are at it and we have to even the flow, especially with social distancing in place."

Speaking on the Metro-style flap gates at railway stations during rush hours, he that they will finalise the locations, entry-exit points and try it as a pilot project at big stations like Churchgate and Mumbai CSMT by September end with QR codes.

2 lakh
No. of QR codes issued for which Railways has relevant data of commuters

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