Mumbai commuters rue arrogance of railways during megablocks

What will you tell someone who blocks your way and then has the gumption to say that he gives you the permission to go by the alternative route?

How would that make you feel? Exactly what 6.9 million passengers have faced every time that the railways began having a megablock on the weekends ‘for maintenance and repairs’ on Sundays from the early 90s!

“Due to maintenance and repair works there will be no train on platform one today. Passengers are ALLOWED to travel from Platform number two in the up direction and take a down train from there.” Announcements like these mark most Sunday outings if you travel by train these days.

Mumbai’s suburban passengers contribute quite significantly to the railway kitty.

The railways have decided not to have more than a single island platform on many of the stations. They decide to have mega-blocks and then are trying to do you a favour by making you travel in the opposite direction of the one you want to.

“Why can’t they say ‘request’ and not ‘allow’? This is indicative of their mindset and the way they look down on the passengers,” says Madhu Kotian president of the Mumbai Pravasi Sanghathana. 

“They have not been able to raise the height of platforms in so many places though the cement sleepers were replaced nearly a decade ago.  Of the eleven people who die every day, at least few die because people slip between platform tracks and die.

"People who pay for first class fare also have to hang on for their dear lives and travel. At the first sign of security risk they wanted to remove the luggage racks above and only replaced them when passengers threatened to agitate,” he complained and demanded to know, “How much and for how long will people suffer just because it suits the railway authorities’ convenience?”

Others commuter rights activists like Sameer Zaveri also agree.

“By making such announcements the Railways are rubbing salt into the wounds of commuters who travel like animals every day,” he said and added, “though they say allowed to travel passengers still get booked and harassed by the ticket checking staff.” He said he had seen numerous complaints from passengers who decided to take the Harbour like train from Andheri to Bandra when there are no Western line trains on this route.

“They should not only change the way they make announcements with immediate effect and also clearly put up boards saying whether this ‘allowance’ means travelling on different sector trains.”