Mumbai: Game-changing train plan approved, but railways remain silent still

A plan in principle approved by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw which could change the face of Mumbairsquos suburban railway introduce local trains arriving at threeminute intervals at every single station mdash including highdensity places like Kalwa and Badlapur mdash is not being taken up debated or even discussed by rail authoritiesFollowing the Mumbra tragedy with answers still being sought this plan could be a gamechanger The Central Railway CR has been sitting on the plan and has not listed it even in their probable solutions presented to the Bombay High Court earlier this year after the issue of crowding and accidents on railways had come upAccording to a leaked presentation a plan that was presented to and greatly appreciated by Vaishnaw last year could change the face of suburban railways However it is not in the public domain and is not being debated or even discussedThe revolutionary plan which proposes sectorbased operations similar to one used by Metro systems across the world would not only increase services at least three times from Day 1 with the existing setup and infrastructure but also streamline suburban services It could take the number of services to more than 5000 from the current 1810 and at present CR is unable to run even these 1810 on any dayHowever if implemented the plan involves transhipment of passengers at important stations like Thane and Kalyan for which provisions have been thought of and technically worked outDivided into multiple sectors the elaborate plan involves running services sectorwise wise with the first sector only operating services between CSMTThane on the slow line the second sector on the fast line between CSMTKalyan the third between ThaneKalyan slow KalyanKasara Kalyan Karjat and similarly on the Harbour LineThe benefit would be that services on these dedicated sectors would be seamlessly available every three minutes without fail but the drastic change would be that it would require passengers to change trains beyond every sector filtering the crowd It will increase the existing services in respective sectors from Day 1 and the railways would be able to cater to the demand for increased services multifold from the beginningFor example highdensity stations like Badlapur Asangaon and Ambernath will get a train every three minutes during rush hours till Kalyan and from Kalyan a fast local for CSMT Similarly smaller stations like Kalwa Mumbra and Diva too would get trains at a threeminute frequency even on the fast corridor but involve a changeover at ThaneThe changeover stations will however require holding areas and mega foot overbridges which have been planned and worked out using the existing infrastructure with some tweaksIt is understood that the plan was presented by former divisional railway manager Rajnish Goyal during a meeting last year and appreciated by Vaishnaw but it never saw the light of day While Goyal refused to comment on the issue and blocked all efforts made by this journalist sources said that at the very least the plan needs to be highlighted and debated on by stakeholdersIf there is waterlogging at Chinchpokali it affects trains all the way till Kasara and vice versa A problem in one area should not affect the entire corridor This plan could be a solution as per the concept of this planA citybased commuter Giridhar Pandey also suggested a similar plan of segmentbased operations highlighting how it might improve operations with efficient turnaround predictable travel time and seamless passenger flow distributionldquoI would like to propose a practical and scalable solution to address the overcrowding issue particularly during peak hours The current longdistance suburban train modelfor example CSMT to Kasara or CSMT toKhopoli results in prolonged travel cycles up to two hours for a oneway journey reduced frequency and extreme crowding at most stations Instead of operating longroute trains endtoend we can break the route into shorter segments similar to Metro systemsrdquo Pandey told middayldquoThis system may require minor infrastructure and scheduling adjustments but it is achievable within the existing framework Similar models are effectively used in Metro systems worldwide and could bring a revolutionary improvement to the Mumbai suburban experience I urge the authorities to consider a pilot run on select lines to evaluate the effectiveness of this modelrdquo Pandey addedDecongested coaches Passengers boarding from intermediate stations will have greater access to less crowded trainsEfficient turnaround Each train will complete its cycle in 3045 minutes allowing better scheduling and optimal resource utilisationIncreased train frequency Shorter routes mean each train completes its trip faster allowing higher frequency possibly every 15 minutes during peak hours instead of 3plus minutesPredictable travel time While passengers from outer stations eg Kasara may experience a slight increase in total travel time approximately 2025 minutes the comfort and safety gained by avoiding severely overcrowded trains will outweigh the inconveniencePassenger flow distribution Passengers will boarddeboard at defined interchange points Kurla Thane Kalyan leading to smoother transitions and less chaotic boarding conditions