The one thing every Mumbai local commuter dreads is being squashed by the crowd. Railway Protection Force (RPF) – Western Railway, have come up with a solution to that – asking people to stand in a queue.
According to the Mumbai Mirror, on December 18, 20 women constables approached female commuters on platform numbers 8 and 9, at Andheri station, asking them to queue up before boarding the train.
The constables told them of the RPF’s plan, to implement queue system across the suburban network. The move was to ensure women commuters, and their belongings remained safe while boarding and alighting from trains.
Women queued up to board five Andheri-Virar locals and seeing them, men too, followed suit.
The male commuters were so excited with the idea of boarding and alighting from trains without the usual jostling and screaming, that they voluntarily queued up alongside the women commuters to board the 6:35 PM local.
The RPF carried out the experiment on five locals at 5:47 PM, 6:12 PM, 6:35 PM 6:50 PM, and 7:21 PM. The smooth process encouraged authorities to think that the idea will work and unruly behaviour at station platform can be corrected.
Anup Kumar Shukla, RPF-Western Railway’s Divisional Security Commissioner, said:
“Commuters were more than happy to support the drive. They readily queued up, and while a few did lunge forward as the train approached the platform, the discipline was by and large maintained.”
The successful experiment at Andheri railway station proves that people are more than willing to conform to rules if it makes travelling easier.
