The court sought the details while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Mumbai Suburban Railway Passengers Association, seeking a cyclic timetable for trains plying on the line. The association had urged the court to direct the Western Railway (WR) authorities to revise their timetable according to commuter needs. Thousands of railway commuters had created a huge commotion at the Borivali station yesterday and one of the reasons for it was the inadequate train services from Borivali to Churchgate.

The WR has now decided to have a spare rake at Borivali station during peak hours in the morning. “This is one of the measures undertaken by us after Wednesday’s incident. A spare rake at Borivali can be used in case of technical failure and such problems can, thus, be avoided,” Shyam Sundar Gupta, chief spokesperson of WR, told Newsline.

The association’s counsel told the court that there is no requirement of additional rakes or tracks, but there is a need for super-fast trains and more trains between Bandra and Virar to reduce over-crowding of trains. The court was told that while more than 80 per cent of the population lives between Bandra and Virar, more number of trains are plying between Churchgate and Bandra.

The division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked railway counsel Suresh Kumar which is the most crowded corridor on WR, to which Kumar said it is the 39-km Andheri-Virar stretch. He said there are 1,196 services a day on the western line at present. The petitioners contended that 1,400 services are possible a day and the headway between two services, which is three minutes now, can be reduced to two minutes.

The case has been adjourned till March 12.

One held for stealing wire
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has arrested one Rakesh Anil Panchal, 60, for stealing the copper wire that led to the failure of suburban trains on Wednesday. According to senior divisional security commissioner Devendra Kasar, Panchal, reportedly a drug addict, was arrested from the Hanuman Tedki area in Vakola.

The court slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 on Panchal, failing which he would be lodged in the jail for 20 more days.