The Bombay High Court on Thursday expressed serious concern over the repeated deaths of commuters falling from overcrowded Mumbai local trains. The Court suggested that the Central Railway explore the installation of automatic doors in local trains to reduce these tragic incidents, calling the current situation “alarming.”
The division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne was hearing a public interest litigation regarding the ongoing loss of lives due to falls from moving trains. The Court's attention was particularly drawn to a tragic incident on June 9, where 13 commuters fell off a local train near Mumbra in Thane district. Four people died, and nine others suffered injuries in that incident.
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"Whatever measures you have taken are not sufficient, it appears. People are dying after falling from moving trains. Your own data shows that around 10 commuters die daily in train accidents. The situation is alarming," Justice Marne remarked.
Chief Justice Aradhe shared the concern and added, We only want that such an incident should not occur again in future. This is alarming.
Representing the Railways, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh informed the Court that several safety steps had already been implemented. He said a multi-disciplinary committee led by a senior divisional safety commissioner was formed after the June 9 incident and that the report of the committee is awaited.
ASG Singh detailed some preventive actions, including the installation of track dividers to stop trespassing, minimizing the gap between train footboards and platforms, and removing food and book stalls from platforms to reduce crowding.
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Despite these steps, Justice Marne asked, But what about people falling from moving locals?
To this, Chief Justice Aradhe suggested a more direct solution. “The most basic suggestion that we as laypersons can give is, why can't you have automatic closed doors? This will be of much help to achieve your goal of Zero Deaths. We are not experts in railway safety, but you can consider having closed doors,” he said.
Responding to the court's concerns, ASG Singh stated that a high-level committee working on the 'Zero Deaths Mission' is continuously monitoring the situation and that the daily death toll is showing signs of decline.
When the petitioner tried to directly address the bench, Chief Justice Aradhe asked whether the petitioner had technical expertise. He advised, Still, you give your suggestions to the multi-disciplinary committee which is looking into the incident. We will ask them to consider your suggestions.
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The Court has now listed the matter for further hearing, awaiting the findings and recommendations from the committee.
