Non-genuine cases of chain pulling rises

Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials have reported an increased trend in the cases of alarm chain pulling (ACP) wherein passengers have pulled the chain for accidentally boarding a wrong train.

The officials said that they register more than 100 such cases in every month on the Central line.

The RPF officials said that usually passengers are tend to pull the chain when one of their family member have left behind while attempting to board a train. The officials have categorized such cases into non-genuine cases.

“We have arrested passengers who are pulling the chain without a genuine reason. They are arrested under Section 141 of Railway Act for needlessly interfering with means of communication in a train. There are hardly 30 genuine cases out of the 100 reported monthly on the Central line,” said Sachin Bhalode, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner of Central Railway (CR).

The statistics from the RPF reveals that there were at least 157 chailn pulling cases reported in January, 126 in February and 110 in March this year on the Central line.

Last year, at least 136 cases were reported in January, 116 in February and 151 in March.

The officials said cases like pulling a chain after a passenger falls between the gap of platform and footboard are categorized as genuine cases. Similarly, incidents of brawl inside the moving train or luggages left behind by the passengers have also been identified as genuine cases.

The senior officials said that it takes at least five minutes for the train to start after someone pulls a chain.

“Unnecessary chain pulling have caused a delay of the trains and a disturbance to the entire schedule,” said an RPF official.

Officials also said that it depends on the pointman when he reaches the spot after a chain is pulled by a passenger.