Pune, June 9 (UNI) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) Supremo Sharad Pawar on Monday said the incident of five passengers falling to their deaths from a local train due to overcrowding is very unfortunate and added that Railways needs to increase the number of local trains on important routes.

In a post on X, he said, I pay my heartfelt tributes to all the innocent passengers.

He said that some passengers are undergoing treatment in the hospital. I pray that their health also improves as soon as possible.

He said that, "On an average, 6 to 7 passengers die every day on the Central Railway after falling from local trains. This information that has come to light according to a statistic is very worrying. It is well known that the increasing crowding in local trains is the main reason for this. Still, after such accidents, it is not right to blame the passengers for their deaths."

Pawar said the Central Railway Administration should take serious note of today's unfortunate incident, in which five passengers died and seven were injured after they fell from an overcrowded local train between Diva and Mumbra stations of Central Railway.

Railways needs to plan its timings well and increase local trains on important routes accordingly. Necessary measures should be implemented immediately for the safety of passengers, he added.

The decision to install automatic doors in local trains to prevent such frequent accidents is expected to be implemented in due time, he added.

Authorities attributed the tragedy to severe overcrowding, with many passengers reportedly hanging onto the train doors at the time.

UNI SP RN