A blue light indicator on local trains may save your life!!
Accidents on the railways are a common phenomenon. Further, fatalities caused due to commuters either trying to catch running local trains or falling off running trains due to over-crowding has increased in recent times. Hence, in a bid to bring down the number accidents, Central Railway (C.R.) has introduced a unique blue-light indicator warning passengers that the train is in motion and nobody should board or alight.
According to railway officials, the indicator is fixed at the top of the entrance on a local train. When the train gets the signal to move, the indicator would automatically emit a blue beam of light on the platform, sending an alarm to all commuters that boarding and alighting from the train is unsafe!
It may be noted that, daily, in Mulund more than 3 lakh commuters travel by local trains. Due to over-crowding, many commuters can be seen hanging on the foot-boards of the local trains, thus risking their lives. Sadly, during peak hours, the rush is so much that many times it is observed all the commuters are unable to board the train and a few are left back when the train starts moving. Due to this, accidents have been reported at Mulund station. But, with the latest unique blue light indicator, passengers would be alerted, and this would prove useful to reduce accidents.
Explaining the function of the indicator, a railway official informed the media that the blue light indicator is linked with the circuit of the motorman of the local. Thus, the moment the motorman starts the train, immediately the indicator would emit a blue light beam, thereby signalling to the passengers on the platform to remain aloof or keep a distance from the train as it is in motion.”
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, in a tweet, has shared a video about the functioning of the indicator. The video clearly depicts that before the local train moves, the indicator emits a blue light beam 3 to 4 times and, after that, the local train moves off the platform.
Piyush Goyal, in his tweet, wrote: ‘Safety First’: An indicator is fixed at the gate of the coach which will emit a blue light and guide the passengers that the train is above to start. This will prevent accidents due to passengers catching the train at the last movement.”
A regular commuter, Shilpa Subramanian, appreciated the move of C.R. She told, Home Times, “The innovation to prevent accidents is laudable. This will not only help passengers save their lives, but will also reduce the number of accidents.” However, Jai Prakash Singh, a commuter travelling from Mulund station, lamented, “Tragically, the platform is always crowded. Sometimes, due to cancellation of a few trains, the crowd multiples, hence the poor commuters are forced to travel in an over-crowded compartment and hang on the footboard which ultimately leads to accidents.”
