Lok Sabha Question No. 397 (STARRED), answered on 2025-08-20
Subject: Inquiry of Accident on Mumbai Suburban Railway
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  397 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025

## INQUIRY OF ACCIDENT ON MUMBAI SUBURBAN RAILWAY

- *397. DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  initiated  any  inquiry  into  the  recent accident  near  Mumbra  railway  station  on  the  Mumbai  Suburban Railway Network and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  long-pending  demand  for increasing  the  number  of  local  trains  and  rectifying  the  known hazards in Mumbra-Diva section;
- (c) if so, the steps taken to address these challenges;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  safety  audit/socio technical review of the Mumbai Suburban Railway Network during the last three years; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 397 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025

(a)  to  (e):  A  committee  has  been  constituted  to  investigate  the  cause  of incident near Mumbra station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network.

## Safety Measures

Safety is accorded the highest priority on Indian Railways and Safety Audits are done regularly. As a consequence of various safety measures taken over the  years,  there  has  been  a  steep  decline  in  the  number  of  accidents. Consequential Train Accidents have reduced from 135 in 2014-15 to 31 in 2024-25 as shown in the graph below.

It  may  be  noted  that  the  Consequential  Train  Accidents during  the period 2004-14  was  1711  (average  171  per  annum),  which  has  declined  to  31  in 2024-25 and further to 3 in 2025-26 (upto June).

Another  important  index  showing  improved  safety  in  train  operations  is Accidents  Per  Million  Train  Kilometer  (APMTKM)  which  has  reduced  from 0.11  in  2014-15  to  0.03  in  2024-25,  indicating  an  improvement  of  approx. 73% during the said period.

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## Infrastructure Augmentation Works

Under MUTP II, 5th and 6th line between Thane and Diva (9.44 RKm) was completed  and  commissioned  in  February  2022.  Further  to  improve  the infrastructure in Mumbai suburban railway services, following projects have been sanctioned:

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                           | Length (km)   | Cost (Rs. in crore)   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------|---------------|-----------------------|
|       1 | CSMT-Kurla 5 th & 6 th Line (MUTP-II) 17.5                |               | 891                   |
|       2 | Mumbai Central-Borivali 6 th Line (MUTP-II)               | 30            | 919                   |
|       3 | 7                                                         |               | 826                   |
|       4 | Borivali-Virar 5 th & 6 th Line (MUTP-IIIA) 26            |               | 2,184                 |
|       5 | Virar-Dahanu Road 3 rd & 4 th Line (MUTP-III)             | 64            | 3,587                 |
|       6 | Panvel-Karjat Suburban Corridor (MUTP-III)                | 29.6          | 2,782                 |
|       7 | Airoli-Kalwa (elevated) Suburban Corridor link (MUTP-III) | 3.3           | 476                   |
|       8 | Kalyan-Asangaon 4 th Line (MUTP-IIIA)                     | 32            | 1,759                 |
|       9 | Kalyan-Badlapur 3 rd & 4 th line (MUTP-IIIA)              | 14            | 1,510                 |
|      10 | Kalyan-Kasara 3 rd Line                                   | 67            | 792                   |
|      11 | Naigaon-Juichandra double chord Line                      | 6             | 176                   |
|      12 | Nilaje-Kopar double chord Line                            | 5             | 338                   |

1. On  Indian  Railways,  the  expenditure  on  Safety  related  activities  has increased over the years as under:-

| Expenditure on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                         | 2013-14 (Act.)                                          | 2022- 23 (Act.)                                         | 2023-24 (Act.)                                          | RE 2024- 25                                             | BE 2025- 26                                             |
| Maintenance of Permanent Way & Works                    | 9,172                                                   | 18,115                                                  | 20,322                                                  | 21,800                                                  | 23,316                                                  |
| Maintenance of Motive Power and Rolling Stock           | 14,796                                                  | 27,086                                                  | 30,864                                                  | 31,540                                                  | 30,666                                                  |
| Maintenance of Machines                                 | 5,406                                                   | 9,828                                                   | 10,772                                                  | 12,112                                                  | 12,880                                                  |
| Road Safety LCs and ROBs/ RUBs                          | 1,986                                                   | 5,347                                                   | 6,662                                                   | 8,184                                                   | 7,706                                                   |
| Track Renewals                                          | 4,985                                                   | 16,326                                                  | 17,850                                                  | 22,669                                                  | 22,800                                                  |
| Bridge Works                                            | 390                                                     | 1,050                                                   | 1,907                                                   | 2,130                                                   | 2,169                                                   |
| Signal & Telecom Works                                  | 905                                                     | 2,456                                                   | 3,751                                                   | 6,006                                                   | 6,800                                                   |
| Workshops Incl. PUs and Misc. expenditure on Safety     | 1,823                                                   | 7,119                                                   | 9,523                                                   | 9,581                                                   | 10,134                                                  |
| Total                                                   | 39,463                                                  | 87,327                                                  | 1,01,651                                                | 1,14,022                                                | 1,16,470                                                |

2. Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of points and signals have been provided at 6,635 stations up to 30.06.2025 to reduce accident due to human failure.
3. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11,096 level Crossing Gates up to 30.06.2025 for enhancing safety at LC gates.
4. Complete Track Circuiting of stations to enhance safety by verification of track  occupancy  by  electrical  means  has  been  provided at 6,640

- stations up to 30.06.2025.
5. Kavach is a highly technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of  highest order. Kavach was adopted as a National ATP system  in  July  2020.  Kavach  is  provided  progressively  in  phased manner.  Kavach  has  already  been  deployed  on  1548  RKm  on  South Central  Railway  and  North  Central  Railway.  Presently,  the  work  is  in progress  on  Delhi-Mumbai  and  Delhi-Howrah  corridors  (approximately 3000  RKm).  Kavach  has  been  successfully  commissioned  over  KotaMathura section (Delhi - Mumbai route) covering 324 Route Kilometers on 30.07.2025.
6. Detailed  instructions  on  issues  related  with  safety  of  Signalling,  e.g. mandatory correspondence check, alteration work protocol, preparation of completion drawing, etc. have been issued.
7. System  of  disconnection  and  reconnection  for  S&T  equipment  as  per protocol has been re-emphasized.
8. All  locomotives  are  equipped  with  Vigilance  Control  Devices  (VCD)  to improve alertness of Loco Pilots.
9. Retro-reflective  sigma  boards  are  provided  on  the  mast  which  is located two OHE masts prior to the signals in electrified territories to alert the crew about the signal ahead when visibility is low due to foggy weather.
10. A GPS based Fog Safety Device (FSD) is provided to loco pilots in fog affected areas which enables loco pilots to know the distance of the approaching landmarks like signals, level crossing gates, etc.
11. Modern track structure consisting of 60kg, 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS)  rails,  Prestressed  Concrete  Sleeper  (PSC)  Normal/Wide  base sleepers  with  elastic  fastening,  fan  shaped  layout  turnout  on  PSC sleepers,  Steel Channel/H-beam  Sleepers  on  girder  bridges  is used

while carrying out primary track renewals.

12. Mechanisation  of  track  laying  activity  through  use  of  track  machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc. to reduce human errors.
13. Maximizing supply of 130m/260m  long  rail panels for increasing progress  of rail  renewal  and  avoiding  welding of joints,  thereby improving safety.
14. Ultrasonic  Flaw  Detection  (USFD)  testing  of  rails  to  detect  flaws  and timely removal of defective rails.
15. Laying of longer rails, minimizing the use of Alumino Thermic Welding and  adoption  of  better  welding  technology  for  rails  i.e.,  Flash  Butt
5. Welding.
16. Monitoring  of  track  geometry  by  OMS  (Oscillation  Monitoring  System) and TRC (Track Recording Cars).
7. 17.
8. Patrolling of railway tracks to look out for weld/rail fractures.
18. The use of Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossing in turnout renewal works.
19. Inspections at regular intervals are carried out to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices.
20. Web  based  online  monitoring system  of track assets viz. Track database  and  decision  support  system  has  been  adopted  to  decide rationalized maintenance requirement and optimize inputs.
21. Detailed  instructions  on  issues  related  with  safety  of  Track,  e.g. integrated block, corridor block, worksite safety, monsoon precautions,
13. etc. have been issued.
22. Preventive  maintenance  of  railway  assets  (Coaches  &  Wagons)  is undertaken to ensure safe train operations.
23. Replacement  of  conventional  ICF  design  coaches  with  LHB  design coaches is being done.

24. All unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge (BG) route have been eliminated by January 2019.
25. Safety  of  Railway  Bridges  is  ensured  through  regular  inspection  of Bridges. The requirement of repair/rehabilitation of Bridges is taken up based upon the conditions assessed during these inspections.
26. Indian Railways has displayed Statutory 'Fire Notices' for widespread passenger information in all coaches. Fire posters are provided in every coach so as to educate and alert passengers regarding various Do's and Don'ts to prevent fire. These include messages regarding not carrying any inflammable material, explosives, prohibition of smoking inside the
4. coaches, penalties etc.
27. Production Units are providing Fire detection and suppression system in  newly  manufactured  Power  Cars  and  Pantry  Cars,  Fire  and  Smoke detection system in newly manufactured coaches. Progressive fitment of the same in existing coaches is also underway by Zonal Railways in a phased manner.
28. Regular counselling and training of staff is undertaken.
29. Concept  of  Rolling  Block  introduced  in  Indian  Railways  (Open  Lines) General  Rules  vide  Gazette    notification  dated  30.11.2023,  wherein work of integrated maintenance/ repair/replacement of assets is planned up to 52 weeks in advance on rolling basis and executed as per plan.

The  details  of  the  Safety  related  works  related  to  better  maintenance practices,  Technological  improvements,  better  infrastructure  and  rolling stock etc. undertaken by Railways are tabulated below:-

| S.N.                                    | Item                                                      | 2004-05 to 2013-14                      | 2014-15 to 2024-25 (till March 25)      | 2014-25 Vs. 2004-14                     |
|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| Technological improvements              | Technological improvements                                | Technological improvements              | Technological improvements              | Technological improvements              |
| 1.                                      | Use of high-quality rails (60 Kg) (Km)                    | 57,450 Km                               | 1.43 Lakh Km                            | More than 2 times                       |
| 2.                                      | Longer Rail Panels (260m) (Km)                            | 9,917 Km                                | 77,522 Km                               | Nearly 8 times                          |
| 3.                                      | Electronic Interlocking (Stations)                        | 837 Stations                            | 3,691 Stations                          | More than 4 times                       |
| 4.                                      | Fog Pass Safety Devices (Nos.)                            | As on 31.03.14: 90 Nos.                 | As on 31.03.25: 25,939                  | 288 times                               |
| 5.                                      | Thick Web Switches (Nos.)                                 | Nil                                     | 28,301 Nos.                             |                                         |
| Better maintenance practices            | Better maintenance practices                              | Better maintenance practices            | Better maintenance practices            | Better maintenance practices            |
| 1.                                      | Primary Rail Renewal (Track Km)                           | 32,260 Km                               | 49,941 Km                               | 1.5 times                               |
| 2.                                      | USFD (Ultra Sonic Flaw detection) Testing of Welds (Nos.) | 79.43 Lakh                              | 2 Crore                                 | More than 2 times                       |
| 3.                                      | Weld failures (Nos.)                                      | In 2013-14: 3699 Nos.                   | In 2024-25: 370 Nos.                    | 90 % reduction                          |
| 4.                                      | Rail fractures (Nos.)                                     | In 2013-14: 2548 Nos.                   | In 2024-25: 289 Nos.                    | More than 88% reduction                 |
| Better infrastructure and Rolling stock | Better infrastructure and Rolling stock                   | Better infrastructure and Rolling stock | Better infrastructure and Rolling stock | Better infrastructure and Rolling stock |
| 1.                                      | New Track KM added (Track km)                             | 14,985 Nos.                             | 34,428 Km                               | More than 2 times                       |
| 2.                                      | Flyovers (RoBs)/ Underpasses (RUBs) (Nos.)                | 4,148 Nos.                              | 13,808 Nos.                             | More than 3 times                       |

|   3. | Unmanned Level crossings (nos.) on BG   | As on 31.03.14: 8948   | As on 31.03.24: Nil (All eliminated by 31.01.19)   | Removed            |
|------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
|    4 | Manufacture of LHB Coaches (Nos.)       | 2,337 Nos.             | 42,677                                             | More than 18 times |

## Suburban Services in Mumbai

To  cater  to  the  needs  of  the  commuters  of  Mumbai,  Indian  Railways  is operating Suburban services including AC-EMUs. At present, Central Railway  operates  1810  services  including  80  AC  services,  while  Western Railway  operates  1406  services  including  109  AC  services.  On  Western Railway, 12 new services have been introduced and to provide  additional accommodation, the no. of 15-Car MEMU services have been increased, in a phased manner, from 79 to 211.

The  introduction  of  AC  local  trains  equipped  with  automatic  doors  in Mumbai has been a welcome initiative to enhance commuters' safety and reduce  incidents  related  to  overcrowding.  The  automatic  doors  prevent passengers from hanging on footboards or boarding moving trains which is one of the major causes of falling from running trains. These doors remain closed while the train is in motion and open only at stations when the train is stationary, thereby significantly reducing the risk of falls.

Further, to facilitate the passengers of Diva, Indian Railways, since October2024 has introduced 14 new suburban  services while to cater the needs of

Mumbra station, 16 new suburban services have been introduced. Accordingly,  at  present,  Diva  is  served  by  490  services  and  Mumbra  is served by 440 services.

Besides, introduction of new train services is an on-going process on Indian Railways  subject  to  traffic  justification,  operational  feasibility,  resource availability, etc.

The following steps are also being taken for Commuters safety in Mumbai Suburban Railway network:-

1. Various  awareness  and  sensitization  campaigns  are  conducted  by railways using social media, digital & print media.
2. Frequent announcement is made at railway stations using Loud Hailers as well as through Public Announcement systems cautioning passengers against crossing tracks, boarding moving trains and travelling on footboards.
3. Short videos for passenger awareness are also displayed in Rail Display Network at railway station.
4. Flex  boards  in  both  Hindi  &  Marathi  languages  have been  installed  at vulnerable  locations  of  trespassing  to  caution  the  passengers/public against crossing railway tracks.
5. RPF staff is deployed at vulnerable locations to prevent trespassing and trespassers are prosecuted.
6. Legal  action  is  taken  against  persons  travelling  on  train  rooftops, footboards and other restricted places of the train formation.

## Improvement of Passenger Amenities at Station / Station Redevelopment

Development / Redevelopment / Upgradation / Modernisation of stations on

Indian  Railways  is  a  continuous  and  ongoing  process  and  works  in  this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability  of  funds.  The  priority  for  development  /  redevelopment  / upgradation / modernisation of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the works.

To  enhance  customer  experience  and  provide  better  amenities,  Indian Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach.

The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning includes:

-  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
-  Integration of station with both sides of city
-  Improvement of station building
-  Improvement  of  waiting  halls,  toilets,  Sitting  arrangement,  water booths
-  Provision of wider foot over bridge/air concourse commensurate with passenger traffic
-  Provision of lift/escalators/Ramp
-  Improvement /Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms
-  Provision  of  kiosks  for  local  products  through  schemes  like  'One Station One Product'
-  Parking areas, Multimodal integration
-  Amenities for Divyangjans
-  Better passenger information systems

-  Provision of executive lounges, nominated  spaces  for business meetings,  landscaping,  etc.  keeping  in  view  the  necessity  at  each station

The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.

So  far,  1337  stations  including  132  stations  in  the  state  of  Maharashtra have been identified for development under this scheme.

Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Maharashtra have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, phase-I  worksof  15stations  (Amgaon,  Chanda  Fort,  Chinchpokli,  Devlali, Dhule,  Kedgaon,  Lasalgaon,  Lonand  Jn,  Matunga,  Murtizapur  Jn,  Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Itwari Junction, Parel, Savda, Shahad, Vadala Road) in the state of Maharashtra have been completed under this scheme. The works at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below:

-  At Mumbra station, the works of platform flooring of platform no. 4, improvement  of  seating  arrangement  of  platform  no.  3,  flooring  of Foot Over Bridge, new toilet block, sewage treatment plant, development of circulating area on East side, improvement of ticket booking  office  and  toilet  block  have  been  completed.  The  work  of escalators on platform no. 1 has been taken up.
-  At  Diva  station,  the  works  of  redevelopment  of  circulating  area  and parking  on  East  side,  improvement  to  station  building  on  East  side, new  entry  gate ,  improvement to Foot Over  Bridge  at  East  side,

construction  of  new  staircase  for  Foot  Over  Bridge  at  East  side, platform  shelter  of  platform  no.  7/8,  platform  raising  and  flooring  of platform no. 5/6 and 7/8, new toilet block and sewage treatment plant on  West  side  have  been  completed.  The  work  new  toilet  block  of platform no. 7/8 and new 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.

Upgradation / development / redevelopment of Railway Stations is complex in  nature  involving  safety  of  passengers  &  trains  and  requires  various statutory clearances such as fire clearance, heritage, tree cutting, airport clearance etc. The progress also gets affected due to brown field related challenges  such  as  shifting  of  utilities  (involving  water/sewage  lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipe lines, power/signal cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity of tracks and high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the completion time. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.

Development  /  Upgradation  /  Modernisation  of  stations  including  under Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  is  generally  funded  under  Plan  Head-53 'Customer Amenities'. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise, or station wise  or  state-wise.  The  state  of  Maharashtra  is  covered  under  the jurisdiction  of  four  railway  zones,  namely  Central  Railway,  South  Central Railway, South East Central Railway and Western Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 3,751 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure (up to July, 2025) of ₹ 1,170 crore has been incurred so far.

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