After commuters, it is now the Western Railway (WR) motormen’s turn to protest.
Fed up with the “problems and harassment”, WR motormen have appealed to the railway board to give them an alternate jobs. A motorman narrowly escaped the mob fury at Nallasopara on Tuesday.
“Everytime there is a problem with the train services, motormen are targeted. It has become very risky for us and we have appealed to the authorities to give us alternate jobs,” a motorman said.
“A marginal mistake by a motorman can put the thousands of passengers in danger. We are also being forced to work overtime,” a letter addressed by the WR motormen to the railway board chairman said.
Motormen’s regular training programme at Udaipur has also been postponed.
“Various additional responsibilities, which are very unsafe, have been imposed on motormen. The driving conditions are neither safe nor driver friendly. The car shed has stopped maintaining driving cabs, defective look-out glasses are not being replaced and driving seats are very uncomfortable,” it adds.
“When a motorman complains to his supervisors on their official mobile phones for a quick redressal, the supervisors get annoyed,” the letter adds.
{{/usCountry}}“When a motorman complains to his supervisors on their official mobile phones for a quick redressal, the supervisors get annoyed,” the letter adds.
{{/usCountry}}WR administration refuted the allegations and maintained that motormen were not ignored. Vacancies were being filled up so that overtime can be avoided.
Trespassers to be blamed for delay: WR
The WR has blamed people crossing tracks for train delays.
Trains were delayed by 15 minutes during the morning peak hours on Wednesday with seven trespassing incidents.
An unidentified man suffered injuries on both his legs, while another senior citizen was crushed to death under the wheels of the train near Borivli.
“It takes time to clear people from the tracks. The train is detained and has a cascading effect on the entire schedule,” said SS Gupta, WR’s chief spokesperson said.