MUMBAI, June 26 -- The gruesome murder of 22-year-old Mayank Ramesh Lohar, a salesman of a retail chain, by fellow passenger Roshan Babu Suvarna, inside the first class compartment of a moving local train on the Western Railway line has caused unease among passengers, with passenger groups reviving old demands to fortify the suburban network. A group of passenger associations first tabled a charter of demands to the railways nearly seven years ago when a huge spike in commuter numbers was recorded. The demands were not met, and the associations have now refreshed the list of demands (see box) which they plan to submit to the Railway Board, led by Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh (MRPS). A key demand is AI-enabled surveillance that can monitor crowds in real-time, automatically flag violent behaviour, suspicious movements, or abandoned objects, to allow security forces to intervene before situations escalate beyond control. Approximately 8 million commuters travel by locals daily. Madhu Kotian, president of MRPS, Mumbai's oldest and prominent commuter association, which has 250 members, said that the fatal stabbing has laid bare the glaring vulnerabilities, shortages in staffing and a porous security infrastructure plaguing Mumbai's suburban railway network. He added, members have "expressed anger over the railway administration's lackadaisical attitude of not taking their demand of plugging the holes in the suburban rail system seriously". The members, he said, blamed authorities of prioritising revenue collection and ticket-checking drives over fundamental safety of human lives. "We have been demanding unwanted entry and exit points at railway stations to be plugged, along with the ongoing expansion works. Amrit Bharat revamp which is in progress can very well include this work," said Kotian. He stated, authorities should not only create few entry and exit points but also put in place baggage scanners. "We need a complete overhaul of the system of how people access our stations," Kotian said, demanding installation of baggage scanners similar to those used by the Mumbai Metro, at the entrance points. He acknowledged that while Metro-style security grid at entrances may cause friction in a system that handles heavily crowded local trains, "violent elements are responsible for forcing such strict policies upon us". On a different note, referencing the fatal stabbing of a 33-year-old N M College professor Alok Singh on January 24, 2026 by a fellow passenger following an argument over space, he urged citizens to monitor the mental well-being of their loved ones. "Families must step in with help if they sense anxiety or anger among people close to them, be it personal and professional reasons. Mental wellbeing is key," he said. Calling attention on lax policing, Kotian pointed to a beleaguered railway security force (GRP and RPF) filled with many vacancies since at least six years. "The force is overworked. There is a need to fill vacancies that run into thousands. Even after filling out the vacancies, the ratio between passengers and security personnel will be stark," he added. Expressing outrage over Tuesday night's incident, Siddhesh Desai, vice president of MRPS, said: "Apart from the killing, equally alarming were eyewitness accounts stating that the accused continued to roam the station premises after the murder, with no security personnel around to nab him. It calls to question the effectiveness of the existing security infrastructure, surveillance systems and emergency response mechanisms." He added that even though major hubs such as Thane have baggage scanners, metal detectors and CCTV cameras, "they only serve as window dressing". Building on that idea, Rajiv Singhal, a member of Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee, the official passenger committee constituted by the Indian Railways, said security personnel appointed to guard the stations are "often seen sitting at platforms immersed in their mobile phones"....