Commute responsibly in Mumbai, use the bridge

A few weeks ago, a pedestrian bridge, also called a foot overbridge, was opened for public use at the eastern end of Tilak Nagar station. The convenient bridge, which eliminates the risk of death or injury while sprinting across the rail tracks, fulfils an old demand in the area for a safe crossing across the railway tracks.

One would think it would be put to good use, but since its inauguration, the bridge has largely remained desolate, with most commuters preferring to continue to risk their lives and limbs by walking across the tracks.

On Monday, this diarist stood near the bridge to do a quick count. In two minutes, 41 people crossed the tracks; only one woman took the bridge. This was in the afternoon during what is called non-peak hours. In the morning and evening, when commuters are generally in a hurry, the number of those who bother to clamber up the FOB stairs is even smaller. A commuter who observed the thoughtless behaviour of his fellow travellers has posted pictures of the empty bridge at Tilak Nagar on a social networking website.

Mumbai’s railway lines are killing fields. In 2012, 3,500 people were killed by Mumbai’s suburban trains. As this newspaper reported a few months ago, an RTI query revealed that nearly 40,000 people died on the city’s railway tracks between 2002 and 2011. This is equal to the average population of a district town in the country. If we add up the number of deaths in the last 50 years, the entire population of a small city has been killed this way.

The numbers are horrific by any standards. A safety committee appointed by the Indian Railways largely blamed the railways for the deaths, saying that lack of barricading and inadequate pedestrian bridges was killing commuters.

But as the fate of the FOB at Tilak Nagar shows, commuter behaviour could be responsible for a large number of the deaths. While the railways will have to take responsibility for overcrowded trains and unsafe stations, many deaths and injuries can be avoided if commuters change their reckless behaviour. One railway official commented, “This is part of the problem; we hope that commuters acquire a better civic sense and observe safety rules.”

This diarist can criticise the behaviour of the commuters, but as government workers, railway officials are reluctant to comment on the commuter’s casual approach to safety. A railway official said, “It will be insensitive on our part to blame the public until we do our bit first. We are going ahead with FOBs no matter how many people use it.”

VA Malegaonkar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway, said casualties on the railway tracks are more than just cold statistics for them. “Whenever there is a trespassing incident and a life is lost, it is painful for the railway administration. We are committed to solving the problem. Our steps include construction of FOBs, building boundary walls on both sides of the railway lines.”

One solution is to construct barriers between the railway lines. This will be like treating adults like small children who have to be kept away from dangerous situations, but this brings another set of problems. “We are planning to erect barriers between tracks at railway stations, but it affects movement of our maintenance staff who have to move quickly while working along the tracks,” said Malegaonkar.