From a low of just three cases in 2012-13, it had shot up to 11 in 2013-14, before seeing a slide to nine in 2014-15. The first quarter of the new financial year has seen just two cases so far, one in Mumbai and another in Rajkot.
Sunday's incident of the Bhayander-Churchgate local overshooting platform number 3 at Churchgate and climbing onto the station's concourse might be a very worrying incident, but the good news is that Western Railway, over the past two years, has been able to get a grip on what is considered the most dangerous train-running mistake. Statistics show that the number of SPAD (signal passing at danger), considered to be a level just below a full-fledged accident, has been coming down.
From a low of just three cases in 2012-13, it had shot up to 11 in 2013-14, before seeing a slide to nine in 2014-15. The first quarter of the new financial year has seen just two cases so far, one in Mumbai and another in Rajkot.
Sunday's incident was not a SPAD but one of not adhering to speed limit, as reported by dna in its front-page report on Monday. Motorman LS Tiwary navigated his local over crossover 133/134 in the northern stretch of Churchgate station at a speed of 35 kilometre per hour, when the stipulated speed for the crossover is 30kmph. Similarly, he crossed a yellow signal 551 metres before Churchgate at 35kmph, when the speed limit should have been 30kmph.
SPAD, as reported earlier by dna, is already an area of concern for the railway ministry, with it coming up with a circular in 2013, asking local railway authorities to dismiss offending train drivers.
"They have been asked to avoid talking to others who might be travelling in their motor cabs and also to strictly adhere to the no-cell phone-in-the-cab policy," said an official. The rule to disallow anyone without a 'cab pass' to travel in the motorman's cabin is once again being implemented and offenders will be fined, said officials.
"In a system where each train carries around 3,500 people and there are trains lined up one after the other, a mistake can be catastrophic. There is no other way to implement rules but to do it with an absolute zero-tolerance policy," said a senior WR official.
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