Western Railways messes up Marathi version of safety messages, issues apology

Western Railway authorities have issued an apology and take corrective actions after they were notified of erroneous translations of safety messages. The instructions were stuck on staircases of foot over bridges at various stations along the route.

Mis-translated messages at santacruz station. Pic/ Rajendra Aklekar

While the English and Hindi versions of the messages appeared properly, the Marathi translations seemed incoherent. The embarassment was initially brought to the attention of railway officials by mid-day's Rajendra Aklekar, who also pointed out the flaws of using 'Google Translate' for conveying such serious messages.

A sticker on Santacruz station's Foot Over Bridge read ‘Krupaya lahan chendu gheu naka' in Marathi, the actual meaning of which is 'Please don't use small ball'. However, according to Google's translation platform, the line meant ‘Please do not use short cuts', which possibly was the actual message the Western Railway meant to convey.

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Other gaffes included the pointers such as ‘Krupaya ektar bajula theva', meaning ‘Please keep aside either' and 'Krupaya ek pauool vagalu naka' translating to ‘Please don't drop a step'.

Promising to take corrective action, the Western Railway tweeted out an apology stating, 'Sir, Sorry for the mistake. It happened inadvertently. Concerned officials have been advised to strictly ensure proper translations, transliterations & grammar. Use of proper language shall be ensured. Regards."

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