After Elphinstone stampede, Railways order more FOBs, escalators on stations

A high-level meeting, under the chairmanship of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, was held in Mumbai on September 30, 2017, focussing on railways safety. This was after the events that occurred at Elphinstone station, to comprehensively review safety measures in Mumbai suburban railways as well as entire Indian Railways. In light of the stampede that occurred, the release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) stated that various major decisions were discussed in the meeting, wherein passenger safety was accorded the highest priority. Accordingly, several important decisions were taken to empower Railway officers to take strong measures to improve passenger safety and security. Foot-over-bridges (FOBs), platforms and pathways on platform-end are to be treated as safety items having highest priority with no restriction of budget now. Earlier, only the first FOB at a station was considered as essential and the subsequent as passenger amenities. Additional escalators have been sanctioned at stations of the Mumbai suburban system having high footfall with the details to be finalised within 15 days. Similar exercise will be carried out for all high use stations all over India. Moreover, 200 officers will reportedly be relocated from field to strengthen ground operations and project implementation. Station directors will be posted at 75 stations all over India to bring dynamism in operations. According to the PIB release, CCTV cameras will be installed in all suburban trains in Mumbai with monitoring mechanism within the next 15 months.