The Hindu Business Line : Western Rly to appoint security consultant

Beefing up
The WR is also looking at installing closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) and metal detectors at stations on this line. CCTVs have already been placed at Church Gate, Mumbai Central and Dadar stations.

Mumbai , July 13

In just three-and-a-half hours after the serial blasts disrupted the Western Railways' (WR) service, trains on this line were back on track ferrying stranded commuters to their homes.

Railways are one of the softest targets, said Mr Rajkamal Rao, WR's General Manager, addressing the media about 45 hours after what is touted to be the worst incident in the history of Mumbai's suburban railway system.

Addressing security concerns

The bomb-blasts have highlighted the security problems. But the WR is looking to reinforce passenger confidence by beefing up security measures, he said.

It plans to appoint a consultancy agency to draw up a plan to strengthen security and surveillance along its lines, stations and on trains. The plan will be "tailor-made" to WR's requirements and the suggestions will be implemented in a time-bound manner, he said. No agency has been short-listed yet, he admitted, adding that they were looking to get this plan off the ground as soon as possible.

Over 200 people have been killed by Tuesday's terror attack on Mumbai's local trains along the Western line. More than 700 people have been left injured.

The WR is also looking at installing closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) and metal detectors at stations on this line. CCTVs have already been placed at Church Gate, Mumbai Central and Dadar stations, he said, adding that more would be installed at Bandra and Andheri shortly.

He admitted that it would be difficult to physically check everyone, because of the high volumes at the stations. This, he said, was one of the major problems that they are faced with.

The WR is also increasing its dog-squads at the stations, besides increasing the presence of the police force on trains. The Maharashtra Government too, on Thursday, committed additional police for the trains.

Speedy restoration of services

Revisiting the night of the bomb attack, he said that their first job was to get the damaged trains off the tracks and restore services. Railway services were suspended from 6.45 p.m. on the affected Church Gate to Virar line.

In the first one hour, WR officials made a plan to remove damaged compartments after getting police permission. "For this purpose, every field officer and employee was called on duty immediately," he said.

"Approximately 5,000 railway workers were rushed to the affected areas and work was started on a war-footing, whereas our senior railway officers camped in control rooms at Church Gate and Mumbai Central to take stock of the situation and restore rail services as soon as possible," he said.

The WR met with its first success when the trains started plying on these lines at 9.55 p.m., he added. But the WR took a personal hit, losing 15 of its members to the blast.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is scheduled to visit the blast victims at the KEM and Sion Hospitals on Friday.

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