Gaping space between trains and platform at Sandhurst station making boarding risky

The gaping space between a train and platform at Sandhurst Road

Boarding locals at Sandhurst Road station is too risky, commuters have said, pointing to the gaping space between the trains and the platform. Railway officials attributed the problem to the curving tracks at the station. They said the rail lines are raised every year to counter flooding which also widens the gap. mid-day found the train-platform gap quite wide at the point of the curve.

Commuters said it has become a worry to board trains at the station. "It has been like this for some time now and regular commuters are extra careful. But it can be too risky for those who board running trains," local resident and commuter Sadashiv Thakur said.

Commuters board a local train at Sandhurst Road station on Tuesday

Another commuter, Harshad More, said that the chances of citizens falling into the gap and fatal mishaps are high. Commuter Ameya Pradhan said that such problems are developed due to the angle of banking at stations that are curved. "Surely, the Central Railway has capable engineers to solve this problem."

Many commuters said that there were similar difficulties at stations like Chembur, Mulund platform 4 and Masjid Bunder. Sudhir Badami, a civil engineer from IIT-Bombay with 40 years of professional experience and a member of the High Court committee on raising platform heights, has been studying the problem for quite some time.

"The height level difference between the top of the rail and the top of the platform has to be between 900 mm and 910 mm. It cannot be more than that,"
he said. Railway officials acknowledged the problem and said the work to raise the platform height is in progress. "Material shifting process has already started and ork will be completed to raise platform height to 900 mm, in a month or so," said an official.

"Due to curvature at a certain location, the height between platform and EMU footboard increases. We have identified the locations and the work of platform re-surfacing to make the height at desired level has already begun," Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

Gap maths
>>Present gap: 840 mm
>>Curvature: 3.2 degrees
>>Super elevation provided: 75 mm
>>Platform height to be raised to: 900 mm