The station authorities deployed RPF personnels at each side of the entrance fo the Reay Road station to deter bikers.
A photo published in dna's Saturday edition, of a person riding a bike on a passenger foot-over bridge to get from east to west of Harbour line's Reay Road station has spurred the railways into action. Apart from scouring the Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) images of the incident, which happened between 3pm and 4pm on Thursday – the station authorities also deployed Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at the east side entrance of the station to deter such bikers.
According to eyewitnesses, the problem started after tiling of the area in front of the ticket booking office at the station's south end. The work brought the entrance at the same level as the busy road that runs along the eastern part of the station.
"With no bollards or devices to stop the entry of bikes and the FOB having cement ramps instead of metal stairs, it is easy for bikers. These people save several kilometres by using the foot-overbridge to go from one side of the station to another but it is a nightmare for us, because no one walks on a FOB thinking a bike would whiz past. There have been instances when the handle end of these bikes have hit against the elbows of pedestrians," said a commuter.
Another recent menace is the bikers riding in from the Kurla-end of the station after platform number 2 was extended to accommodate 12-coach trains. "There is a Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown near the platform end and bikers use internal roads, enter the platform, drive almost 300 metres and then climb up the ramp on platform number 2 and go out of the east side of the station using the entrance in front of the elevated booking office," said a commuter.
According to officials, Reay Road is one of those Harbour line stations that has seen tremendous improvement in terms of cleanliness and efficiency over the last couple of years but the disorganised urban sprawl along the periphery of the station is the culprit.
"There are shanty towns on both sides that, despite the efforts of the railways and the civic bodies, could not be removed. There is a general sense of chaos in these shanty settlements at most times of the day and some of it spills into the station," said a railway official.
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 "The road which connects to Reay Road Railway station does not have footpath")
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