A day after an overhead line (OHE) snapped between Dahisar and Borivili stations, disrupting the local train schedule for most of the day on the Western line, Mumbai division officials from Central Railway (CR) on Tuesday lamented the delays on the Central line.
However, they attributed these delays to the misuse of alarm chains in long-distance trains. In April, over 2,300 local trains on the suburban section were delayed by up to 15 minutes due to unwanted chain-pulling instances.
“These chains are provided for passengers facing safety or security issues, so they can communicate with the guard and loco pilot. But passengers misuse it to help co-passengers board the train or for personal needs such as buying food or water, among others,” said CR official.
To curb this misuse, especially during the ongoing holiday season, CR has temporarily hiked the price of platform ticket from Rs 10 to Rs 50. This hike is applicable at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Thane, Kalyan and Panvel stations for a fortnight (May 9 to May 23).
Another official said that most chain-pulling cases in Mumbai division were reported from Kalyan, LTT and Thane stations.
“These are important stations, as most outstation trains halt here. If chain-pulling happens once a train is at the crossing point, it blocks the other lines too. This in turn disrupts the entire schedule and situation worsen during morning and evening peak hours,” the official added.
Commenting on the issue, Shivaji Sutar, CPRO, CR, said the unwanted alarm chain-pulling (ACP) affected punctuality of nearly 700 long-distance and over 2,300 local trains in April.
“About 332 cases of ACP were reported from Mumbai division between April 1 and 30. Out of these, only 53 cases were justified. Also, 188 offenders were prosecuted under section 141 of the Indian Railways Act for ACP without sufficient or valid reason. A total of Rs 94,000 was collected in fines from the offenders,” Sutar added.
