Mumbai: Following several complaints from passengers about people travelling on footboard and roofs of trains and getting electrocuted, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) with the Central and Western Railways have initiated drives to reduce such instances. According to Central Railway (CR), the number of such travellers has decreased, while Western Railway (WR) has seen an increase.
Railway police officers manning CR say they have succeeded in lowering instances of stunts, especially near Mumbra and Kalwa stations. Travelling on the footboard, roofs and performing stunts violate section 156 of the Railway Act. Till June 2016, 187 cases of rooftop travelling were registered by CR, which has come down to 48 this year. The number of footboard travellers and stunts have also decreased, compared to last year.
Sachin Bhalode, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF (CR), said, “We are conducting regular drives at all stations, and have managed to control cases of footboard and rooftop travelling and stunts this year.” Under section 156 of the Railway Act, eight persons were jailed in 2016 and four in 2017 till date. Most cases under this section were registered in Mumbra, Kalwa and on the Harbour Line. However, WR figures have increased. Till June 2016, 1974 cases were registered under section 156. This has gone up to 2,998 in the year since then.
