The issue of platform gaps looks like a no-way track as far as railway authorities are concerned. While people keep falling between the gap of the train floor and the platform at various suburban stations and the news continue to make headlines, the issue is nowhere close to any kind of a solution.
The culprit, according to city-based railway officials, is the ambiguity in the Railway Board's instructions on raising the height of platforms in the suburban section on both Western and Central railways. Instead of giving water-tight instructions (down to the last millimetre) to suburban railway authorities, the instructions speak of raising the height by 'ensuring that local conditions are satisfactory'.
"This is a double-edged sword. The railway board is telling us to raise the height of the platforms, but in such a way that the topography of a station is taken into account. It in effect means, in case there is a mishap because of the raised platform, the onus would be on the local units. This does not inspire confidence," said a senior railway official.
On Central Railway, the general consensus is that platforms should be raised by 900mm rather than the 920mm being bandied about by railway board functionaries as well as social activists.
The concern is that some of these platforms, once raised to 900mm or 920mm, might get raised further naturally, as the soil beneath the tracks sink during the first few weeks of the monsoon.
"If tracks sink during the monsoon, the height of the platform would naturally go up by a few more centimetres. It could result in the train grazing the side of the platform while entering stations. A very dangerous situation," said the official.
One of the Harbour platforms of Andheri station currently faces the 'monsoon' threat, as the gap between the train floor and the platform, which was raised recently, is negligible.
The gap has once again come into focus after the three newly-elected Members of Parliament—Kirit Somaiya, Gopal Shetty and Rahul Shewale—met Railway Board Member (Engineering) VK Gupta, who asked both WR and CR officials to expedite work on raising the height of the platforms.
Gap rules
Rules say the height of a platform should be anything between 760mm and 840mm from the top of the rails. Under the safety rules, the maximum gap between the platform and the floor of the train should be between 342mm and 437 mm.
Both WR and CR have written to the railway board seeking changes to the height stipulation (to between 900mm and 920mm) as the local trains are wider and higher than other trains running on Indian Railways. For example, the Siemens rakes have a floor height of almost 1,220 mm whereas the ideal, as per railway rules, should be around 1,187mm to 1,197mm from the top of the rails. And the new Bombardier rake currently stabled at Virar car-shed is a touch worse with a floor height of 1,230mm from the top of the rails.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}