Mumbai : In a bid to provide safe commute to suburban commuters, Western Railway has written a letter to Railway Board asking them to divert Rs 1.2 crores from the Rolling Stock Program sanctioned in the railway budget for providing Automatic Door Closing system in three coaches of a local train.
The railway officials were compelled to write a letter asking for the required funds after the Railway Board asked WR to test the Automatic Door Closing system in three more coaches but did not provide the fund for the same.
On the other hand there has been a budgetary allocation of Rs 60 crore made for providing Automatic Door Closing system in 300 coaches of long-distance trains.
In the budget for 2015-16, the Railway Board has sanctioned a rolling stock program for Western Railway under which 300 coaches of the long distance trains will be equipped with automatic door closing system. This door closing system will be implemented in each coach of the long distance train at a cost of Rs 60 crore.
Railway officials argued that there is no immediate need for providing door closing systems in long distance trains even as several people die on the suburban railway falling off trains.
In a letter to Director of Electrical Engineering, WR officials have asked for Rs 1.2 crore considering there are eight doors in one coach of a local trains and each door will cost about Rs 5 lakhs.
A senior official from WR said: “Closed doors in long distance trains will be a necessity when the trains will run at a semi-high speed of 260 kmph and above. But for this, there is a dire need for upgradation of infrastructure like tracks. Until the basics are upgraded, the automatic door closing in coaches will be of no use.”
