Lok Sabha Question No. 659 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: Overcrowding in Suburban Trains under Central and Western Railway
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, Shri Sanjay Dina Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 659 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025

## OVERCROWDING IN SUBURBAN TRAINS UNDER CENTRAL AND WESTERN RAILWAY

- 659.
- PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD: SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of severe overcrowding and congestion in  suburban  trains  operating  under  Central  and  Western  Railway  in Mumbai;
- (b) if  so, the average number of passengers travelling per coach against the prescribed capacity during peak hours;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted any study to assess the demandsupply gap and proposes to introduce additional services, extended rakes or new coaches to ease congestion and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  any  projects  have  been  approved  to  expand  track  capacity, modernise signalling and segregate suburban and long-distance rail traffic and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the details and present status of such projects including assistance from international agencies; and
- (f) the  measures  taken/being  taken  to  enhance  passenger  safety  including construction  of  foot  overbridges,  escalators,  lifts  and  improved  crowd management systems at suburban stations?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f):  To address the increasing demand over the suburban railway network in Mumbai area, following steps have been taken:-

- I. To  cater  to  the  needs  of  the  commuters  of  Mumbai,  Suburban  services including AC-EMUs are being operated. At present Western Railway runs 1406 services  including  109  AC  services,  while  Central  Railway  runs  1810  services including 80 AC services.

After extension of all platforms on the slow corridor between Virar and Andheri, the numbers of 15 car services have been increased from 79 to 211 in a phased manner.

Besides, introduction of new  trains including suburban services on any route/section depends on various factors which include:

-  Capacity of that section
-  Availability of path
-  Availability of required rolling stock
-  Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock
-  Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets
- II. To improve and augment the capacity of rail network in  Mumbai suburban area, Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II costing ₹8,087 crore, MUTP-III costing ₹10,947 crore and MUTP-IIIA costing ₹33,690 crore have been sanctioned. These projects include following works in Mumbai Suburban Area:

|   SN | Name of project                                         |   Cost (₹ in crore) |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|    1 | 6th Line Mumbai Central-Borivali (30 km)                |                 919 |
|    2 | Extension of Harbour Line Goregaon-Borivali (7 km)      |                 826 |
|    3 | Virar-Dahanu Road 3rd & 4th Line (64 km)                |                3587 |
|    4 | 5th & 6th Line CSTM-Kurla (17.5 km)                     |                 891 |
|    5 | Panvel-Karjat Suburban Corridor (29.6 km)               |                2782 |
|    6 | Airoli-Kalwa (elevated) Suburban Corridor link (3.3 km) |                 476 |
|    7 | 5th & 6th line Borivali-Virar (26 km)                   |                2184 |
|    8 | 4th line between Kalyan-Asangaon (32 km)                |                1759 |

|   SN | Name of project                                                           |   Cost (₹ in crore) |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|    9 | 3rd & 4th line between Kalyan-Badlapur (14.05 km)                         |                1510 |
|   10 | Kalyan Yard-Segregation of Main Line & Suburban                           |                 866 |
|   11 | Vasai bye pass line (Double line) between Naigaon and Juchandra (5.73 km) |                 176 |
|   12 | Trespass Control such as FOBs etc. (34 locations)                         |                 551 |

Also, a total of 238 rakes of 12 cars have been sanctioned under MUTP-III & IIIA at a cost of ₹19,293 crore. The process for procurement of these rakes has been taken up.

Presently,  17  rakes  of  AC  EMUs  with  Automatic  Door  Closure  System  are operating  on  Mumbai  Suburban  Network.  A  decision  has  been  taken  for development of two Non-AC EMU  rakes with Automatic Doors Closure mechanism,  by  ICF,  Chennai.  These  EMU  rakes  shall  have  Automatic  Doors, Vestibules,  Roof  Mounted  Ventilation  Unit  and  Doors  with  Louvers  for  air circulation.

- III. Following steps have been taken to improve signaling system and increasing capacity:
1. Remodelling works in connection with increase in number of coaches from 12 to 15 on suburban trains for CSMT - Kalyan Section of Central Railway has been sanctioned.
2. Existing Signalling system is being replaced by Electronic Interlocking at 7 stations  (Dadar,  Lower  Parel,  Marine  lines,  Charni  Road,  Ram  Mandir, Churchgate  and  Bandra  Terminus)  of Western  Railway. Out of this Electronic Interlocking work at Lower Parel has been commissioned and work is in progress at Dadar.
3. Reliability Enhancement measures like provision of dual detection systems are being provided at Bhayander, Naigoan, Mahim, Prabhadevi and Dahanu Road stations of Western Railway and work is in progress.

IV. For ease  of passenger, different amenities like Escalators, Elevators, Platform Extensions, Skywalks/ Highwalks, Elevated Decks, new FOBs, interconnection with FOBs, improved signages, lighting and ventilation etc, are being provided under various works of MUTP III and IIIA. Accordingly, 142 lifts and  237  escalators  have  been  provided  at  84  suburban  railway  stations  over Central and Western Railway.

V. Safety is accorded the highest priority on Indian Railways. 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 200414 was 1711 (average 171 per annum), which has declined to 31 in 2024-25 and further to 11 in 2025-26 (upto November, 2025).

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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The various safety measures taken to enhance safety in train operations are as under:-

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

| Expenditure/Budget on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure/Budget on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure/Budget on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure/Budget on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   | Expenditure/Budget on Safety related activities (Rs. in Cr.)   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14                                                        | 2022-23                                                        | 2023-24                                                        | 2024-25                                                        | 2025-26                                                        |
| (Act.)                                                         | (Act.)                                                         | (Act.)                                                         |                                                                |                                                                |
| 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 6,656 stations up to 31.10.2025 to reduce accident due to human failure.
3. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 10,098 Level Crossing Gates up to 31.10.2025 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 6,661 stations up to 31.10.2025.
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.  Initially, Kavach Version 3.2 was deployed on 1465 RKm of South Central Railway and 80  RKm  of  North  Central  Railway.  Kavach  specification  Version  4.0  was approved by RDSO on 16.07.2024.

After extensive and elaborate trials, Kavach Version 4.0 has been successfully  commissioned  on  Palwal-Mathura-Kota-  Nagda  section  (633 RKm) on Delhi- Mumbai route and on Howrah-Bardhaman section (105 RKm) on Delhi-Howrah route. Kavach implementation has been taken up in balance sections of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah route.

Further, Kavach implementation has been taken up on 15,512 RKm covering all  Golden  Quadilateral  (GQ),  Golden  Diagonal  (GD),  High  Density  Network (HDN) and identified sections of Indian Railways.

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 Welding.
16. Monitoring  of  track  geometry  by  OMS  (Oscillation  Monitoring  System)  and TRC (Track Recording Cars).
17. 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, 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 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.
30. 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:-
- VI. The following steps are taken for safety of passengers in Mumbai Suburban Railway network: -
1. Coordination with GRP/State Police are made for ensuring crowd management.
2. GRP  &  RPF  staff  is  deployed  at  foot-over  bridges  and  other  sensitive locations  to  regulate  crowd  smoothly  in  order  to  avoid  stampede  like situation during the heavy rush period and render real time assistance to passengers.
3. Frequent announcement is made at railway stations using Public Announcement  systems  as  well as through Loud Hailers cautioning passengers against crossing tracks, boarding moving trains and travelling on footboards/rooftops.
4. Short  videos  for  passenger  awareness  are  also  displayed  in  Rail  Display Network at railway station.
5. Intelligence units(CIB/SIB) and plain cloth staff are deployed for collection of information regarding rush. Accordingly arrangements are made associating GRP/Police.
6. State Level Security Committee of Railways (SLSCR) under the chairmanship  of  DGP  have  been  constituted  of  the  state  for  regular monitoring and review of security arrangements of the Railways.
7. For immediate assistance, passengers can make complaint on Rail Madad Portal directly or through Helpline Number 139 [integrated with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) No.112].
8. Railways are in regular touch with passengers through various social media platforms like Twitter & Facebook etc. to enhance security of passengers and to address their security concern.
9. Surveillance  is  kept  through  CCTV  cameras  provided  at  Railway  stations and in coaches for enhanced security of passengers.
10. Various awareness and sensitization campaigns are conducted by railways using social media, digital & print media.
11. Flex  boards  in  both  Hindi  &  Marathi  languages  have  been  installed  at vulnerable locations of trespassing to caution the passengers/public against crossing railway tracks.
12. Legal action is taken against persons travelling on train rooftops, footboards and other restricted places of the train formation.

| S.N.   | Item                                                      | 2004-05 to 2013-14           | 2014-15 to 2024- 25          | 2014-25 Vs. 2004-14          |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
|        | 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 Nos.  | 288 times                    |
| 5.     | Thick Web Switches (Nos.)                                 | Nil                          | 28,301 Nos.                  |                              |
|        | 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   |
|----|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|  1 | New Track KM added (Track Km)              | 14,985 Km                                 | 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: 8,948                     | 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                        |

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