Mumbai: The tragic incident near Mumbra station, where 13 passengers fell from a moving local train, has reignited serious concerns over safety in Mumbai’s suburban railway network. Former General Manager of Central Railway and ex-Member (Engineering) of the Railway Board, Subodh Jain, has weighed in on the mishap, blaming a combination of internal crowd force and the growing risk posed by bulky backpacks.

The accident occurred on Monday morning between Mumbra and Diva stations, triggering widespread outrage among daily commuters and rail users who have long complained about inadequate infrastructure, infrequent trains, and poor crowd control during peak hours.

Jain termed such mass-fall incidents as “extremely rare” but indicative of systemic failure. “An incident where multiple passengers fall simultaneously due to internal jostling is highly unusual and points to serious lapses in crowd management and train capacity planning,” he said.

He emphasized that it wasn’t an external collision or track-related issue but rather the intense internal pressure inside an overcrowded coach that likely pushed commuters out. “The overcrowding is such that even a small imbalance or movement can create a chain reaction,” Jain added.

The former top boss of Central Railway also flagged the unintentional danger posed by modern-day commuter habits, particularly the use of large and heavy backpacks. In overcrowded coaches, backpacks protruding from the bodies of standing passengers can inadvertently brush against those hanging at the train’s edge, causing them to lose balance. This risk multiplies when two packed trains pass each other at close range.

“Backpacks may seem harmless, but in a packed moving train, they can act as destabilizers. When a commuter is hanging at the edge and gets nudged by a backpack — even slightly — the result can be fatal,” he explained.

When asked about the track curvature at the accident site, Jain stated that although the curve may have worsened the situation, it cannot be regarded as the main cause of the incident

Jain also provided a technical breakdown of train spacing, noting that the minimum distance between two tracks in Mumbai’s suburban section is about 4.5 metres. With a train width of 3.66 metres and allowing 150 mm for dynamic sway, the remaining net clearance is approximately 690 mm. “This space is generally enough to accommodate the body sway of a standing or hanging passenger, provided the overcrowding remains limited to one direction,” he said.

However, Jain acknowledged that there are exceptions. Some narrow sections, such as the stretch between Masjid and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), have reduced track gaps. In these high-risk areas, speed restrictions are already enforced to minimize risk.

Blaming the prolonged delay in crucial infrastructure projects like the 5th and 6th line corridors, which have remained stagnant for over a decade on both the Central and Western suburban railway systems, former Railway Board Member Subodh Jain stated that the expansion of the suburban network has been severely hampered. As a result, the level of overcrowding has significantly worsened.