Soon the escalators at railway stations across Mumbai will restart within two minutes after a malfunction. A new mechanism is being introduced by Indian Railways, which will reduce downtime of escalators.
Currently, an escalator that has been stopped using its emergency-stop button takes about 25 minutes to restart. The new technology is based on specifications approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards and is expected to bring this time down to around two minutes.
The change is big for Mumbai's suburban railway stations, where escalators are used by thousands of passengers every day. The Railway Board has also introduced stricter maintenance requirements for escalators. Manufacturers will have to provide comprehensive maintenance for at least 15 years after the warranty period ends for newly installed escalators.
The new guidelines follow updated technical standards issued by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) on January 16. The Railway Board released the guidelines on August 13. Under the Railway Board's directions, escalators will have to be inspected using the checklist prescribed by RDSO. The inspection will also need joint approval from a railway representative and the manufacturer.
The rules also cover older escalators whose manufacturers are no longer providing maintenance. Railways will be allowed to carry out a one-time repair of such escalators. After the repair, the manufacturer will have to provide comprehensive maintenance for at least seven years. The board has further directed that annual maintenance contracts should include provisions for deploying personnel when required at crowded and sensitive locations.
Contractors will also be required to keep stocks of spare parts so repairs can be done without delays. Western Railway has already built a webpage to monitor escalator maintenance. The system is designed to track maintenance work and mandatory inspections. Indian Railways is now working to expand this monitoring system across the network.