Motormen to protest today; suburban services may be hit

The suburban services on both Central and Western line could take a hit on Thursday as the motormen from both the railways are planning to participate in a protest to support Anna Hazare.

The suburban services on both Central and Western line could take a hit on Thursday as the motormen from both the railways are planning to participate in a protest to support Anna Hazare.

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In a meeting, the motormen decided to march from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to Azad Maidan starting at 5.30pm, when the evening peak hour is on the roll.

Motormen associations say around 300 motormen or so from both the railways will join the protest march. “We are showing solidarity in support of the Jan Lokpal Bill,” said a motorman.

However, they are ensuring the protest wouldn’t really affect the train services. “Only those who have completed their shifts would be joining the protest march,” said P Gupta, general secretary, Western Railway Motormen Association (WRMA).

“It is not just about corruption in railways but in every sector,” said a motorman from Central Railway Motormen Association (CRMA). The motormen forum from the Central Railway assured it would be a peaceful march.

“These are just individual perspectives and not of the railways as a whole. It really wouldn’t affect train operations,” said a railway official.

There are no permanent general managers to head either the central or western railways that also operate the financial capital of the country. Additional charge for CR has been assigned to Kul Bhushan, who is now in Delhi, and RC Agarwal, who sits in Jaipur, is looking after the WR.