Railway ministry's top officer in the electrical engineering department and railway board member Navin Tandon was in Mumbai on Sunday to learn more about the various problems faced by the electrical departments of both Western and Central Railway. Tandon also met Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials, said sources.
According to sources, officials discussed the commuter agitation in Diva on January 2, which left 10 rakes damaged and some motormen and Railway Protection Force personnel injured.
The crux of the meeting was to ensure that such technical malfunctions are kept to the minimum so as not to provoke passenger fury. Officials also discussed the increasing number of overhead wire snaps on CR. "Their number has increased by 30-40%. It creates a cascading effect, with a lot of trains getting cancelled or delayed. During morning or evening peak hours, it can create a law and order situation very quickly," said an official.
The impending conversion of rail lines between CST and Thane from the obsolete 1,500-volt direct current to 25,000-volt alternating current by the end of this month (subject to permissions from the commissioner of railway safety) was also discussed.
"The test-charging of the route was done recently and it went off well. So we expect the actual conversion to take place soon. However, the run-up to the conversion always throws up technical difficulties which need to be handled carefully or there could be several Diva-like situations," said an official.
According to officials, a positive out of the Diva agitation and violence was that the railway ministry as well as the city-based railway bureaucracy and even the state government has woken up to the tinderbox-like situation on suburban railways.
"Hopefully, in the next few months, work will really kick-start with better coordination between the state government and railways. Or else, it would be a great opportunity missed," said an official.
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