Protest by train managers affects Mumbai suburban services during evening rush hours

Protest by train managers affects Mumbai suburban services during evening rush hours

Mumbai, Suburban services were affected on Wednesday evening after train managers at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus resorted to a 'work to rule' protest over a safety circular recently issued by the Central Railway administration, officials said.

Protest by train managers affects Mumbai suburban services during evening rush hours

The agitation resulted in the cancellation of suburban train services during evening rush hours.

According to Railway sources, the protest that started from Wednesday evening, affected operations at the busy terminus in south Mumbai, with train managers strictly adhering to procedural norms, leading to delays and cancellations of local services.

Discussions between authorities and representatives of the train managers were underway to resolve the issue through dialogue, a Central Railway spokesperson said and added they were trying to restore normal suburban operations at the earliest.

The Safety Circular No. 15, issued by Central Railway on May 7, revised provisions under the General and Subsidiary Rules 2020 edition pertaining to bell code signals exchanged between guards and motormen/loco pilots.

To protest the new rule that was mainly brought to avoid platform overshooting, some train managers at CSMT began strictly adhering to the revised procedures, affecting suburban operations, a train manager told PTI.

As per the revised rule, train managers are required to give an advance warning bell signal before a scheduled halt so that the motorman can register in advance that the train has to stop at the next station, he explained.

The circular further states that if there is no response from the motorman, the guard must apply brakes when a stopping train is approaching the station at a speed higher than required for halting.

CR daily operates around 2,300 suburban services on its four suburban corridors Main Line, Harbour Line, Trans-Harbour Line and Belapur-Uran Line. Everyday, over 40 lakh passengers travel on these local trains.

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