Viral video shows women clinging to moving Mumbai local train. Railways reacts
A video of women commuters hanging perilously from the footboard of a moving Mumbai local train has gone viral on social media, triggering concern over passenger safety.The short clip, posted by the X account Mumbai Railway Users, shows women clinging to the footboard of the overcrowded train.According to the X account, the incident occurred because the Ladies Special train from Kalyan was delayed by 40 minutes, leading to severe overcrowding.advertisement
Watch the video here:#ViralVideo #CRFixLocalTrainDelays Today's Ladies Special from Kalyan was delayed by 40 mins, forcing women to hang on the footboard—an unsafe and risky commute. Railways term this dangerous, yet delays continue. @AshwiniVaishnaw pls review delay data. @MumRail @rajtoday pic.twitter.com/vnhxTIyFD6— Mumbai Railway Users (@mumbairailusers) May 9, 2025As the video went viral, it attracted a response from Railway Seva, the official X account for support to railway passengers, stating: 'For necessary action escalated to the concerned official @Drmmumbaicr,' referring the matter to the Divisional Railway Manager of Mumbai Central Railway.
Railway Seva also tagged the official X account of the Railway Protection Force of Mumbai Central Railway and asked them to look into the matter.
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Meanwhile, several users expressed concern over the unsafe conditions and blamed the delays, while many others criticised the women passengers for risking their lives by traveling in such a dangerous manner.The Indian Railways has repeatedly warned about the dangers of travelling on footboards, calling it a serious safety hazard.Trending Reel
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NDTV
21 hours ago
- NDTV
After Thane Train Mishap, Railways To Deploy Closed-Door Non-AC Rake By January
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Following the Mumbra train tragedy, the railways will redesign suburban trains to include automatic door closures by January. New designs will enhance ventilation and safety, addressing past suffocation issues while improving passenger comfort and movement. Mumbai: In the aftermath of the Mumbra train incident in which four persons were killed and nine injured on Monday morning, the railways said it would redesign a suburban rake to install automatic door closure systems by November and induct it into service by January next year. At least four commuters, including a GRP constable, died and nine were injured when 13 passengers fell after those hanging from the footboard of two overcrowded trains and their backpacks brushed against each other as the trains passed in opposite directions. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and senior Railway Board functionaries held an urgent meeting with the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) team to find a practical solution to the challenges surrounding automatic door closing systems in non-AC local trains operating in Mumbai, officials said. After detailed deliberations, it was decided that a new design for non-AC suburban coaches would be developed to resolve the ventilation issue through three major design modifications, a Central Railway official said here. ""First, the new coaches will feature louvers on the doors to allow natural airflow even when the doors are closed. Second, roof-mounted ventilation units will be installed to pump fresh air into the coaches. And third, vestibules will be added between coaches to enable passenger movement and better distribution of the crowd inside the train," the official said. This new trainset will be in addition to the ongoing production of 238 air-conditioned (AC) local trains being manufactured under Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), he informed. The primary concern with automatic door closing in non-AC coaches is the issue of suffocation due to reduced ventilation, which has raised serious safety and comfort concerns among commuters, officials said. They pointed out that an automatic door closure system was tested on a suburban local on Western Railway a decade ago but it failed due to suffocation complaints from passengers as well as other issues. Presently, Central Railway has 157 suburban locals, including seven AC locals, while Western Railway has 95 suburban locals, of which eight are air-conditioned locals. CR operates 1810 services every day. The figure is 1406 for Western Railway. More than 75 lakh passengers use these 3200-odd services every day, making the network the largest public transporter in the city and among the biggest of its kind anywhere in the world. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Mumbai train accident: Railways mull new non-AC trains with automated door closure facility
After four persons died and six others were injured when they fell from a local train in Mumbai due to overcrowding in peak hours, the Railway Board has said that new, non-AC trains would be designed and manufactured with automatic door closure facility to prevent accidents. The deadline for introducing the first prototype of such a non-AC train with door closure facility in the Mumbai Suburban Railway network has been fixed as January 2026. Sources said that in the wake of the incident in Mumbai, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and Railway Board officials held a meeting with a team from the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF). A senior Mumbai-based Railway official told The Hindu that the Mumbai Suburban Railway network currently has 250 rakes in use. Each rake of the train has 12 passenger coaches. Of these 250 rakes, only 30 rakes are air-conditioned, and the rest are non-AC. Currently, non-AC rake coaches in Mumbai local trains are not fitted with closing doors. 'The older rakes may be gradually phased out; it won't happen overnight,' the official said. Earlier, officials from the Railway Board had stated that all rakes in service would be redesigned, and door closure facility would be provided for these rakes. But during the meeting, a major issue of retrofitting automatic doors in non-air conditioned trains leading to suffocation because of reduced ventilation was discussed, sources said. After detailed discussions, it was decided that new, non-AC trains would be designed and manufactured, and the key issue of ventilation would be resolved using three design changes. 'Firstly, the doors will have louvres. Secondly, coaches will have roof mounted ventilation units to pump in fresh air. Also, the coaches will have vestibules so that passengers can move from one coach to another and balance out the crowd in a natural way,' the sources said. Officials who attended the meeting said that ICF Chennai had been entrusted with the task of designing a prototype of the new non-AC train. 'The first train of this new design will be ready by November 2025. After the testing and certification by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, it will be placed in service for feedback from the people by January 2026,' a senior official said. The official added that, earlier, a similar yard trial had been conducted on non-AC trains in Mumbai locals, and it was noticed that closure of gates led to carbon dioxide levels going up by 2.5 times. 'The new design will be created to avoid such increase in CO2 levels,' the official said. Officials stated that the decision to introduce newly designed non-AC rakes with automatic door closure facilities was in addition to the 238 AC trains being manufactured for Mumbai suburban train services. The official Indian Railways spokesperson refrained from commenting on the total cost of introducing the new non-AC trains in Mumbai suburban network, stating that the costing could only be worked out once the ICF submitted the prototype designs in November later this year. 'The approximate cost of manufacturing a non-AC train currently in service in the Mumbai Suburban Network is close to ₹20-25 crore, and their average life is nearly 18 years,' a Mumbai-based Railway official said. While introducing new non-AC trains with automated door closure, officials said that the Railways would also have to consider passenger congestion in Mumbai local trains. While a 12-coach rake in a non-AC Mumbai local train has a seating capacity of 1,200, another 1,800 persons can stand in the rake, but during the 'super dense crush load period', commuters travelling in one rake cross over 4,000, officials said. M. Jamshed, former Member, Traffic, Railway Board, said that in 2018-19, the Indian Railways carried 4,784 million commuters, of which 40% (over five million commuters daily) travelled in Mumbai on the Central and Western Railways. 'Comfort and safety, however, remain serious concerns. The Railways, in its affidavit given to the Mumbai High Court in 2024, indicated over 51,000 deaths on Central Railway and Western Railway systems in last 20 years. This number has significantly reduced to about 2,590 and 2,468 in 2023 and 2024, respectively,' Mr. Jamshed told The Hindu. He added that measures to minimise these incidents must be aimed at reducing the per local train 'super dense crush load', which is that of 15 persons per square metre of space during peak hours. 'Whether the door closing can be done with these numbers is debatable,' Mr. Jamshed said.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
All new non-AC Mumbai local trains to have auto closing doors: Railway Board
Maharashtra train mishap NEW DELHI: All new non-AC local trains for the Mumbai Suburban network will have automatic closing doors, like in metro trains, and the system will be installed in existing rakes subsequently, the Railway Board said after four passengers died and six were injured as they fell from a moving overcrowded local train in Thane on Monday. The first train with the new door system will be ready by Nov, and after required tests and certification, it will be put into service by Jan next year. The design is being finalised by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF), top railway officials said. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Railway Board officials had a detailed meeting with the ICF team 'to find a practical solution' to the issue, ministry officials said. They added that a major issue with automatic door closing in non-AC trains is reduced ventilation in coaches. 'Following detailed discussions, it was decided that new non-AC trains will be designed and manufactured using three design changes — first, the doors will have louvres; second, coaches will have roof-mounted ventilation units to pump in fresh air and third, coaches will have vestibules so that passengers can move from one coach to another and balance out the crowd in a natural way,' an official said. Officials said a few years back, the automatic door closing system on non-AC local trains underwent trials but it impacted operations, leading to delays on the network. Now, there is no other option left but to have the system in all non-AC coaches, they said. 'It has to be implemented for the people's safety and to prevent people travelling on a coach's footboard,' said an official. Every day, around 80 lakh passengers use local trains for commuting. At present, local trains make around 3,216 trips on the Mumbai Suburban network. There are around 280 non-AC rakes. 'In all, around 3,405 coaches have to be retrofitted with the door closing system,' said an official. Officials said 13 projects of 310 km worth Rs 17,000 crore are being executed to augment the capacity of the network, and the railway can add more services to meet the traffic demand when these get completed.
