Railways allot Rs 60 crore to raise height of platforms

MUMBAI: The railway ministry has agreed to allow heights of platforms in Mumbai's suburban rail network to be raised to 920mm. The work will take three years and Rs 50-60 crore. The ministry has also announced Rs 5 lakh for Monika More, the college girl who lost her arms under a train after falling into a pit on a Ghatkopar platform on January 11. The money will be in addition to Rs 4 lakh that she is entitled to as compensation from the railway claims tribunal.

"Work will be taken up to raise the height of 74 platforms in suburban stations. It will be done in a phase-wise manner," railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge said on Friday. Central and Western Railway have been asked to divert funds for the work from their allocation for passenger amenity-related projects.

Raising the height of platf orms has been a long-pending demand of city commuters.

On Monika, Kharge said, "Compensation for her has been approved on compassionate grounds, treating her case as special." On Thursday, Monika's father had met the minister and sought assistance.

Kharge asked the state government to look for sponsorship from the private sector under corporate social responsibility (CSR) to finance prosthetic arms for Monika.

He also urged the state government and corporate houses to come up with suggestions and help for a "unified transport solution" for Mumbai. He said he will write to the Prithviraj Chavan government for allocation of space outside stations to park ambulances. He was speaking at a function to dedicate the Kalyan-Thane-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus DC-AC conversion project to the nation.

The decision to raise the heights of platforms has been taken after longstanding demands that the gap they form with the footboards of train compartments be reduced. Every year, hundreds of people lose lives and limbs after falling into the footboard-platform gap while trying to board crowded local trains. The gap has increased considerably after the introduction of new rakes by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation. Compartment footboards of these rakes are higher because of the new suspension coil springs they use, among other factors.

According to standards specified by the railway board, the height of platforms should be in the range of 760-840 mm. But this is a lot low for the new rakes, which require a platform height of around 920 mm for commuters to board them easily.

"We have asked the two zonal railways to begin work on the platforms. A formal letter of approval will follow soon," said railway board member (traffic) D P Pande.

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