Suburban train mishap: MP Shrikant Shinde seeks immediate infra upgrade on section beyond Thane
Thane, Jun 9 (PTI) Kalyan Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde expressed grief at the death of four commuters in a suburban railway mishap between Diva and Kopar stations in Thane district on Monday morning and sought immediate infrastructure upgrade of the network to ease overcrowding.
At least four commuters, including a GRP constable, died and six were injured after falling off a moving and overcrowded local train in Maharashtra’s Thane district during the office rush hour on Monday morning, officials said.
The incident occurred between Diva and Kopar railway stations when the train was going towards Kasara, a police official said.
The passengers fell probably after commuters hanging from the footboard of two overcrowded trains and their backpacks brushed against each other as the trains passed in opposite directions, railway officials said.
Shinde said fast local train services must start from Diva to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus while all efforts should be taken to immediately extend the fifth and sixth lines to CSMT.
The Shiv Sena MP visited injured passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa accompanied by party colleague and Thane MP Naresh Mhaske.
“There is a sharp curve near Mumbra station. When two local trains on the Up (towards CSMT) and Down (towards Thane and beyond) passed simultaneously, some passengers hanging from the footboards either fell off or were crushed inside the coaches. The Kalyan-Karjat (which goes towards Pune) belt suffers from extreme congestion,” Shinde said.
“Passenger associations have long demanded more services on this route. The fifth and sixth railway lines between Thane and Kalyan have helped marginally, but we now need to extend these lines up to CSMT to further ease congestion. The construction of the third and fourth lines beyond Kalyan is in progress and land acquisition is underway but more needs to be done now to manage increasing passenger volumes effectively,” he added.
Twelve-coach trains should be progressively upgraded to 15-coach ones, he added. PTI COR BNM
