Ambernath FOB poses stampede risk

A committee to identify infrastructure shortcomings in the Mumbai suburban rail network on Saturday has found that the narrow foot overbridge (FOB) at Ambernath posed risks of an Elphinstone Station-like stampede.

"A stampede-like incident can occur at Ambernath station if the FOB isn't widened. It has a heavy footfall and due to insufficient width of FOB, people are crossing tracks," said Irfan Ahmad, member of the Railway Ministry-appointed Passenger Amenities Committee (PAC) that carried out the inspections on Saturday.

The PAC's inspection, which comes a month after the Elphinstone Road stampede that led to death of 23 people, included Karjat, Ambernath, and Bhandup stations.

At Karjat, Ahmad and other members noted that there was a lot of congestion outside the main entrance.

"There was little space for people to walk on the road after coming out. There were autos parked on rail land, which needs to be removed," said Subhash Gupta, ex-member, National Railway Users Consultative Committee – another rail ministry appointed body – who also assisted PAC members in the inspection. On the platform, too, there were no indicators for where the coaches of long-distance trains would stop.

At Bhandup, after the team found a single entrance/exit, CR authorities have told the PAC that they would acquire private land to create another exit at the CSMT end and to give an entrance on LBS Marg. Moreover there are encroachments near railway station that block smooth movement.

The PAC will send its report directly to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.