CHENNAI: If you were to visit suburban railway stations at Saidapet, Guindy or Meenambakkam at late night, chances are you will not find any railway personnel, certainly not the station master. For, the Chennai division of the Southern Railway has just withdrawn night shift for station masters for the three stations.
It means between 10 pm and 6 am, the three stations will have no station masters. They will work in two shifts alone: 6 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm.
Trains ply between Chennai Beach and Tambaram from 3.55 am to 11.59 pm. As many as 34 train services pass through the intermediate stations between 10 pm to 6 am on both directions.
Blame it on the staff shortage. A few days ago, the transportation branch of Chennai division transferred station masters in the three stations and posted them in the existing vacancies of additional station master at Pallavaram suburban station.
However, suburban stations between Chennai Beach and Tambaram will still be manned by junior level station masters in three shifts each day.
People who got to know about the decision were shocked as it would pose a huge risk to trains and commuters. If the trains do not run as per schedule at night, commuters will not be informed about it in these three stations. This could increase the risk of commuters safety, especially women passengers, said a section of passengers.
N Masilamani, former member of Chennai divisional rail users consultative committee, said, “Guindy and Meenambakkam stations are well patronaged even during night hours. In the event of any emergency, there will be no one to guide them. It also increases the risk of accidents as passengers movements will not be monitored when the train leaves the station,” he said.
He added that many stations, including C and D grade stations in Southern Railway, function without night duty station masters due to the lack of train operations. “When there are train services, railway should deploy a person to monitor its operation,” he added.
Station masters oversee the arrival and departure of trains by monitoring work in the signal and section engineering department, clear trains for operations, alert the next station master in the event of emergencies and handle passenger complaints.
About five lakh passengers commute in 236 train services in the Chengalpattu - Tambaram - Chennai Beach section each day.
