Mumbai: CR writes to 350 firms, organisations to start staggered office timings

The rush on platform no. 2 at Borivli station. Pic/Satej Shinde

The Central Railway (CR) made an unprecedented move on Friday, advocating staggered office timings in Mumbai to eliminate rush hours and reduce fatalities on the railway network. It has sent out letters to over 350 organisations urging the implementation of this approach.

The CR in Mumbai has started the practice of staggered timings at their own offices since November 1.

"Yes, we want to start a movement in the city and to set an example we have begun this practice in our offices since November 1," Divisional Railway Manager Rajnish Kumar Goyal told mid-day.

The letter sent out to the 350 organisations

Though 150 additional suburban services have been added during peak hours in the past seven years, there is no scope for further increase in services. On the other side, the daily number of commuters is increasing day by day.

The appeal letters, a copy of which is with mid-day, states, "We, as heads of our departments, organisations, institutions, schools, colleges, hospitals, corporate houses and other such entities must have experienced cases of losing our employees of their loved ones during rail travel on suburban network. Employees, who certainly would have been an asset to our organisation. Losing the life or limb of any member of a family in an accident has an extremely adverse impact on the entire family. The situation becomes particularly serious if that member happens to be the sole earning member or the homemaker of the house. In addition to the loss of life or limb, the super dense crowd at stations and in trains makes the journey particularly tiresome and difficult to undertake. It has its effect on the productivity of the employee."

Railway passenger associations in the city have long advocated for staggered office timings and have escalated the issue to the chief minister's office due to the increasing train crowds, welcoming this decision.

The earliest mention of staggering working hours was seen among several recommendations that the Suburban Train Overcrowding Committee made in July 1956.

150
No. of additional suburban services added during peak hours in 7 years