Bandra terminus gets rid of platform number zero

The days of hearing — and finding it funny all the same — railway announcements at Bandra Terminus that a particular train will leave from platform number zero is soon going to be over. In a statement issued on Thursday, Western Railway said that it will be re-numbering the platforms of Bandra Terminus in a conventional way so that the confusion that gets created currently is avoided.

Bandra Terminus, which has seven platforms, had two platforms designated at odds with railway's usual style of designating platforms. One platform was called the 'Home platform' and another as 'number zero'. The five platforms from thereon — from east to west — were numbered from one to five.

WR in its statement said that from July 23, the numbering would be conventional. "Home platform would become platform 1, the zero number platform would become 2 and the rest five platforms will follow as numbers 3 to 7. This hopefully will make passenger flow in the terminus better," said a WR official.

"This was one of the funniest, and also confusing, system of numbering platforms I have seen anywhere on Indian Railways. It was confusing passengers who would often think one was being unhelpful if you told them that the train would leave from platform number zero. Moreover, railway personnel at the inquiry counters had to spend more time answering a query because they sometimes had to convince the passenger that platform number zero exists. Illiterate people found it tough to understand the concept of home platform," said Rajiv Singhal, a rail activist and member of the railway's passenger consultative committee.

Singhal last week had brought the issue to the notice of Western Railway divisional railway manager Mukul Jain and his team about the passengers' plight at the odd numbering. Incidentally, several foreign stations, including some in London, have something like a platform number zero.