Railway union protests after motorman runover by train at Byculla Station

Railway union expresses anger after another rail employee dies. Union claims employee was under work pressure. Incident sparks uproar among employees.

Mumbai: The railway unions expressed anger following the death of another rail employee. Murlidhar Sharma, a motorman from Central Railway, was run by a train while crossing tracks at Byculla station. The union claimed that he was under work pressure.

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The accident occurred on Friday around 11:30am when Sharma was run over by a long-distance train while traversing the rail lines at Byculla station. According to railway union officials, Sharma had just completed a trip and had arrived at Byculla.

Railway officials said that the incident was a case of trespass runover and have initiated further investigation. However, the unions contend that the root cause lies in the practice of assigning double duty to motormen, which, they claim, increases the likelihood of errors during train operations.

During double duty shifts, motormen work for twice the working hours. However, this duty is voluntary, and only those who opt for it are assigned. Sources said that the motormen provide their consent for double duty assignments.

“It seems that he was under stress and was worried about something. We are now demanding that the system of double duty be withdrawn,” said a leader of Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh, who on Friday evening put out a notice board displaying their protest.

This incident has sparked uproar among the railway employees, especially following the deaths of three Western Railway employees last month after being struck by a moving train near Vasai. In response, the railway administration implemented certain measures for staff. Additionally, earlier this week, a commuter was struck by a CSMT-bound train at Vashi station after jumping onto the tracks from the platform. Fellow commuters made valiant efforts to rescue him by tilting the coach.