WR to hire 150 staff to help injured commuters

Western Railway (WR) will hire 150 helpers to assist injured passengers and accident victims between Churchgate and Dahanu railway stations, starting mid-February.

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Four helpers will be posted at every railway station. They will provide medical assistance to the victims and take them to the nearest hospital.

WR has outsourced the hiring of these helpers. The helpers will work in 12-hour shifts. They will be deployed near platforms, the station master’s office, as well as crowded foot overbridges (FOBs) of every railway station on the suburban railway route.

“These helpers will assist passengers during medical emergencies. This initiative will not only help save lives of the passengers but will also help in dealing with the accidents faster thus, acting as a smooth passage for operations of local train services in cases of accident, trespassing and passenger falling from compartments,” said a senior official of WR.

The zonal railway has recently awarded tenders for the hiring of helpers. The helpers will be deployed for a period of one year.

Presently, both Central and Western Railway take the help of Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and staff present at railway stations to carry victims of railway accident to the nearest hospital.

The Bombay high court (HC) had earlier directed both the zonal railways on the treatment of rail accident victims at stations. The court had directed the railways to shift accident victims to the nearest government hospital.

If there is no government hospital in a five-kilometre radius, then the railways are directed to admit the victim in a private hospital.