NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Railways has decided to manufacture new coaches for Mumbai's suburban trains with an automatic door closing system, incorporating significant improvements in ventilation. The decision was taken following an incident that occurred on Monday in Mumbai, where several passengers fell from an overcrowded, moving suburban train.
The matter was discussed in the meeting held on Monday between the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) team and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw along with senior officials. The meeting, which continued for several hours, focused on the ongoing issue of overcrowding in Mumbai’s local trains and aimed to find a practical solution for implementing automatic door systems in non-air-conditioned (non-AC) trains.
An official source from the Railway Ministry told the TNIE that the primary challenge with automatic door closing in non-AC trains is the risk of suffocation due to inadequate ventilation.
“After detailed discussions, it has been decided that new non-AC trains will be designed and manufactured where the key issue of ventilation will be resolved using three design changes,” said ED (I&P) Dileep Kumar. He noted that the first priority in the meeting was to ensure that the doors are fitted with louvers.
The second change in the design of Mumbai’s non-AC daily train coaches will be the installation of roof-mounted ventilation units to circulate fresh air.
“The third change discussed at the meeting for new coaches of Mumbai daily non-AC train would be to ensure the vestibules in each non-AC coaches for Mumbai suburban trains so that passengers can move from one coach to another and balance out the crowd in a natural way,” Kumar said.
The most important decision taken at the meeting in the wake of the Mumbai incident was to ensure that the design of the first new train incorporating all these changes would be ready by November 2025. “After necessary tests and certification, it will be put into service by January 2026. This is in addition to the 238 AC trains being manufactured for Mumbai suburban services,” Kumar said.
According to a conservative estimate, approximately 2,342 daily services transport over 7 lakh passengers every day, making it one of the world’s most crowded suburban train systems.