As Mumbai’s suburban railway continues to grapple with dangerous overcrowding and daily casualties, city transport activist Samir Zaveri has written to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding urgent intervention, including the introduction of 18-car local trains and emergency medical rooms at all stations.

“I had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in 2008 before the Bombay High Court regarding the urgent need for emergency medical aid and measures to prevent deaths and injuries on Mumbai’s suburban railway network,” said Zaveri, a 90 per cent disabled activist. “The court, through binding orders dated November 10, 2014, and March 10, 2017, had directed the Central and Western Railways to establish and maintain Emergency Medical Rooms (EMRs) at all suburban stations within the Mumbai Division.”

Yet, according to an RTI reply dated January 21, 2025, 15 EMRs that were operational in 2023–24 at stations including Karjat, Kurla, Ulhasnagar, Chembur, Kalyan, Dadar, Vashi, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Thane, Titwala, Mankhurd, Panvel, and Vikhroli have now been shut down. “Currently, no EMRs are functional at any of the approximately 125 suburban stations in the Central Railway Mumbai Division,” Zaveri said. On the Western Railway side, only 23 of the 37 suburban stations between Churchgate and Dahanu have operating EMRs.