With the death of three persons at Bijlinagar and one at Kasarwadi who were run over by Pune-bound Deccan Express, 17 persons have died in train accidents in last 13 days under the jurisdiction of the Pune railway station police.

Of the 17, 16 died while crossing the tracks while one fell off a train. Fifteen of them died between Pune and Lonavala while two of them died at Ghorpadi.

Last year from January to December, as many as 270 persons were run over by differents trains between Pune and Lonavala sections of the Central Railway.

All the three who died at Bijlinagar on Monday were trying to cross the tracks when the accident took place. Among those killed at Bijlinagar include Akshay Bansal, a 16-year-old college student staying at Mohannagar. The fourth one fell from the train at Kasarwadi. Assistant police inspector Mohan Bankar said last month also three persons had died at the same spot. He said there is a sort of "blind corner" at Bijlinagar where commuters find it difficult to notice the incoming train. "Despite the risk involved, commuters try to cross the tracks rather than using the foot overbridge," he said.

Divisional Railway Manager D K Jain said Bijlinagar, Kamshet, Talegaon and Lonavala are the spots where such accidents have become common. "At these places, a large number of animals are also found dead." Jain said despite the commuter awareness campaign launched by the Central Railway, there has been little change in the attitute of the citizens. "Commuters keep trespassing on the tracks rather using the safer mode of the overbridge," he lamented.

Jain said the railways can put fence at all the stations under its jurisdictions to avoid such incidents. "We had tried this at Shivajinagar where a compound wall was constructed. The compound wall was felled by first drilling a hole into it and then it was brought down brick by brick," Jain said.