Mumbai: On a day when Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was scheduled to flag off 60 new suburban train services for city commuters, a massive stampede on a railway footover bridge near the Parel-Elphinstone Road station killed 22 and injured at least 36 people on Friday.
The cause of the stampede on the narrow footover bridge was not known, but eyewitnesses claimed that a sudden rumour of a suspected electrical short-circuit sparked off a panic. It is not yet clear if the Mumbai tragedy will change Goyal’s Mumbai plans.
A press statement issued by the Central and Western Railways on Thursday said Goyal “will introduce 14 additional suburban services on its harbour line and trans harbour line each, while the Western Railway would introduce 32 new services on its corridor, which will be effective from October 1. He was also supposed to release the new suburban time-table on Friday at a function.
The Railway Minister was also scheduled to have a ride in local train from Vile Parle to Churchgate on Friday, where he was expected to address railway officials.
