To improve passenger safety and convenience, several stations will be surveyed on the Mumbai suburban network to document existing amenities and footfalls, based on which separate crowd control and management plans will be drawn up for each station.
The Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will undertake detailed surveys of major suburban railway stations and long-distance terminals in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.
In the first phase, five to seven of the busiest suburban stations in Mumbai, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Bandra, Kurla and Prabhadevi will be covered. Important stations in Pune and Nashik will also be included in the exercise.
The surveys will be conducted at stations under both Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) jurisdictions.
Reports based on existing data that have been submitted to the railway administration indicate the need for more detailed surveys at some stations.
A CR official said that with passenger numbers rising steadily, systematic crowd management has become critical for safety and smooth operations. These surveys will help us redesign station layouts and movement patterns in a more scientific manner.
The objective is to understand the unique challenges of each station and prepare crowd management plans accordingly, instead of applying a uniform model everywhere, official added.
The surveys will involve a detailed assessment of passenger movement and infrastructure during peak and non-peak hours.
The study will map passenger footfall, train arrival and departure timings, platform capacity, staircases, foot overbridges, escalators, lifts, ticket counters and entry and exit routes.
The location of stations, particularly their proximity to commercial hubs, business districts and busy road junctions, will also be taken into account while framing the plans.
The entire exercise is likely to take several months to complete. Each station survey is estimated to cost nearly INR 40 lakh.
The expenditure would be borne as part of the railways’ safety and passenger facilitation initiatives.
The railways will prepare recommendations to improve crowd handling and passenger amenities.