The Mumbai suburban railway network, which accounts for seven to eight deaths per day on average, on Wednesday recorded zero fatalities across all 17 railway police stations under its jurisdiction. There were 11 people who were injured on the same day.
While railway officials said the case of zero track deaths may well be a statistical blip, the number of deaths has been declining over the past few years due to the efforts made to close level crossing gates and build boundary walls along the tracks.
The number of deaths recorded in 2015 was 3,305, which came down to 2,734 in 2018. In 2019, a little over 1,200 deaths have been registered so far, which include deaths due to trespassing and crimes such as murders on the railway premises.
Earlier this year, the Western Railway (WR) closed the level crossing gate at Jogeshwari, which was a major spot for track deaths.
According to railway officials, there have been zero death at Jogeshwari owing to people crossing tracks. Of the proposed 50-km boundary wall along the tracks, the WR has completed 40 km, and aims to finish the remaining by the end of this year.
The Central Railway (CR) also took a series of measures at Dadar station such as closing the entry and exit points, which have drastically curtailed the fatalities caused due to crossing tracks.
The CR has shut nearly 100 such chronic accident spots across the suburban section.
