Mumbai: Indicators to warn commuters when trains are about to leave

The blue light indicator that warns commuters when the train is about to leave from the platform

A Vasai-based engineer's glowing commuter safety experiment has finally seen the light of day on Central Railway (CR), a year after mid-day carried a front-page report on it. On Saturday, CR ran their first local train with the blue light indicator that warns commuters when the train is about to leave from the platform.

The idea was pitched to CR by engineer Joseph Malachi - who'd quit his job to focus on making railway tracks safer - in June 2016. Malachi's pitch was for an audio-visual alarm that could warn commuters just before the train is about the leave the platform. mid-day reported on the device on March 31, 2018, in 'This hack could reduce rail deaths' when CR was carrying out trials for the device.

Close to a year later, on Saturday evening, CR ran their first Mumbai local from CST to Kalyan with the blue light indicator on the door of the train. Explaining how the device works, CR's chief public relations officer Sunil Udasi said, "The light glows just before the train is ready to move from the platform, warning commuters. A ray of light also falls on the platform, and acts as a boundary, which becomes the minimum clearance level for commuters to avoid accidents while the train is in motion." Commuters are thus alerted and warned of the imminent danger of being too close to the train on the platform, thereby guiding them to back off from the train.

CR GM DK Sharma with engineer Joseph Malachi who developed the device

Barrier and deterrent
"This device will definitely act as a psychological barrier, and deterrent to stop commuters from boarding a moving train. The work for this for this has been carried out at the Kurla car shed under the guidance of CR general manager DK Sharma," said Udasi. Udasi said only one coach has been fitted with the device as of now. CR is monitoring the performance of the device and based on the outcome and commuter feedback, a decision would be taken to install such indicators on more Mumbai local trains.

To commuter discipline
Speaking about the indicator, Malachi, who has three patents on devices for commuter safety, told mid-day in 2018 that the technology is simple and can be installed in local trains without much intervention. He'd also said, "The concept is more of a brain game and is validated by psychiatrists, station masters. It could create major transformation and discipline in the crowd."

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