The railway authorities in the city are looking at two factors with great interest as the monsoons make its way towards Mumbai. First is the various platforms that have been raised to various levels over the past one year and the other being the running of the new Bombardier rake which is expected to be commissioned in the next few days.
As reported by dna earlier, the railways is looking at the effect the initial days of the rains would have on some of the raised platforms. Railway officials pointed out that the monsoon brings about a phenomenon in the city where the soil beneath the ballast that gives solidity to the tracks starts sinking after rain water loosens it. This in turn, could lead to a reduction of the gap between the train floor and the platform.
The lack of a gap would mean that the trains entering the platform could scrape the floor of the platform, causing sparking due to friction and creating panic among those standing on the footboard.
The fear rises from the fact that several platforms have been raised to a height of 920mm, which railway officials now believe is on the higher side. As previously reported by dna, the general consensus among the railway authorities is that a height of 900mm is ideal and WR had even laid out a Rs47 crore plan to raise platforms to this height.
A survey conducted by the railway authorities in the city and the experts of the Research Design Standards Organisation (RDSO) — the railway's apex technical authority — during the night of February 26, found Andheri's platform number 7 to be extremely vulnerable in case of the soil loosening beneath the tracks. There was hardly any gap between the train floor and the platform.
The other monsoon headache is the new Bombardier rake. "Past experience has shown that commissioning new trains during monsoons tends to throw up more problems than during the rest of the year. Plus, we need to see the gap it creates since its has a higher floor than other trains," said the official.
The new Bombardier rake being tested in the city currently has a floor height of 1230mm from the top of the rail, much higher than the Siemens floor height of 1220mm. As per the rules, the ideal height of train floors should be around 1187mm to 1197mm 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}