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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday expressed its shame over the manner in which commuters are being made to travel in the Mumbai Suburban Trains. 

"Sorry to use this word. I feel ashamed of the manner in which passengers are made to commute in local," Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya said.

The division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a PIL concerning the deaths of commuters on the Western Suburban trains.

Advocate Rohan Shah appeared in the PIL filed through Vashi and Vashi. Shah informed the bench that 2,590 Western Railway suburban commuters lose their lives each year. 

He added that the major causes of these deaths are commuters falling from the trains and accidents while crossing the railway tracks.

He submitted that the Mumbai Local is the second busiest railway system after Tokyo. He pointed out that the death ratio per thousand commuters is 33.8, while in New York it is 2.66, and in London, it is 1.43.

He also argued that although the railway has introduced AC trains where the doors are closed, the low-income group still travels in non-AC trains due to the expensive tickets for AC trains. 

He emphasized that the capacity, which was previously shared by 10 non-AC trains, is now being managed by 8 non-AC trains as 2 out of the 10 have been converted to AC trains.

It was also pointed out that no compensation is awarded by railways except where is a death due to train crash or fire incident on railway property. He added that non of the deaths other than the above two classification are recorded by the railway and just marked as 'Untoward Incident'

The counsel appearing for the Western Railway pointed out that in 2019 the high court had issued certain directions regarding infrastructure and that the same had been complied with. He added that all the trains and tracks were being utilized at maximum capacity.

The bench immediately responded, stating that the railway cannot escape responsibility and give excuses by merely saying it has complied with the guidelines.

"If everything is done then have you been able to stop the deaths of running trains or deaths on account of crossing the tracks? Have you stopped all that? We are going to make officers accountable. The situation in Bombay is pathetic. You can't feel happy for proclaiming that you make 33 lakh people commute. You can't say that considering the number of passengers that you are doing well. You can't take refuge that there are large commuters. You have to change your attitude and mindset," the bench said.

Therefore, the bench called upon the general managers of Western and Central Railway to look into the entire issue raised in the petition and file an affidavit in reply. The bench added that the reply shall be personally vetted by the general manager.

In its order, the bench also recorded that the reply shall indicate the measures currently available and those in force to prevent mishaps.

The bench indicated that the court may consider setting up a committee of the commissioner to conduct a high-level study and suggest measures to address the challenge of passenger deaths.