Mumbai train accident: Railways mull new non-AC trains with automated door closure facility

Railway Ministry prioritizes safety with automatic door closure in Mumbai Suburban trains after tragic incident in Maharashtra.

After four persons died and six others were injured when they fell from a local train in Mumbai due to overcrowding in peak hours, the Railway Board has said that new, non-AC trains would be designed and manufactured with automatic door closure facility to prevent accidents. 

The deadline for introducing the first prototype of such a non-AC train with door closure facility in the Mumbai Suburban Railway network has been fixed as January 2026. 

Sources said that in the wake of the incident in Mumbai, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and Railway Board officials held a meeting with a team from the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF). 

A senior Mumbai-based Railway official told The Hindu that the Mumbai Suburban Railway network currently has 250 rakes in use. Each rake of the train has 12 passenger coaches. Of these 250 rakes, only 30 rakes are air-conditioned, and the rest are non-AC. Currently, non-AC rake coaches in Mumbai local trains are not fitted with closing doors. 

“The older rakes may be gradually phased out; it won’t happen overnight,” the official said. 

Earlier, officials from the Railway Board had stated that all rakes in service would be redesigned, and door closure facility would be provided for these rakes. 

But during the meeting, a major issue of retrofitting automatic doors in non-air conditioned trains leading to suffocation because of reduced ventilation was discussed, sources said.