Spike in chain pulling delaying trains on CR

Mumbai: The Central Railway (CR) lost almost 21 hours in November due to delays in train services caused by 71 incidents of alarm chain pulling; this included incidents in suburban locals as well as long-distance trains

Mumbai: The Central Railway (CR) lost almost 21 hours in November due to delays in train services caused by 71 incidents of alarm chain pulling; this included incidents in suburban locals as well as long-distance trains. The total number of chain pulling incidents between April and November also witnessed a sharp rise this year at 344 over last year’s figure of 240.

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Overall, 1,075 trains were delayed across CR between April and November, among which 344 trains were in Mumbai. 793 persons were booked for chain pulling during this period across all zones including Mumbai, and fines worth ₹2.72 lakh were collected from offenders.

“People pull the chain for frivolous reasons like buying water, loading their luggage or allowing non-passengers stranded on moving trains to deboard,” said a senior railway official, noting that at least 12 trains in Mumbai‘s suburban network were delayed every day between April and November due to instances of chain pulling. In November alone, 197 long-distance trains were delayed including 73 trains in Mumbai, he said, with an average punctuality loss of 10 minutes each.

Officials said incidents of chain pulling spiked during the holiday season and were very common in 4-5 trains headed to north India. “These incidents not only affect the running of that particular train but have a cascading effect on trains that follow. In a suburban system like Mumbai division, this results in late running of mail/ express as well as suburban trains,” said Shivraj Manaspure, chief public relations officer, CR. Chain pulling without valid reasons is a punishable with imprisonment up to one year and/or fine under section 141 of the Railways Act.

BOX:

Prime disruptors

CR recorded 71 incidents of alarm chain pulling in November. Maximum cases occurred in the following trains/stations:

Train number – train name – no of incidents

•     15066 Panvel - Gorakhpur Express - 7

•     15017 LTT - Gorakhpur Express - 7

•     12322 CSMT - Howrah Mail (via Allahabad) - 5

•     12809 CSMT- Howrah Mail (via Nagpur) - 5

•     12534 - CSMT - Lucknow Pushpak Express - 5

•     22538 LTT - Gorakhpur Express - 5

Station name - no of incidents

Kalyan - 38

Dadar - 13

Thane - 10

CSMT - 9

Kasara - 8

Panvel & LTT - 6