CHENNAI: It’s not always gun-wielding police personnel are seen on duty in train stations. Not in a peaceful state like Tamil Nadu. In an unprecedented move, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel armed with assault rifles have been posted across the Arakkonam railway station to curb frequent protests by passengers due to train delays.
The railway police have also arrested six persons and booked over 400 for staging a rail roko on Wednesday. Much to the dismay of commuters, the repeated delays of EMU trains, which affect lives of many and the root-cause of the protests, still remain unaddressed.
On Friday morning, regular passengers got a shock. Police personnel with a semi-automatic or an assault rifle were sprinkled across the railway station. There were apparently twenty-four of them. It is learnt that two teams of RPF and one team of Railway Special Protection Force (RPSF), each team headed by an Inspector, have been deployed in the station. Two RPF constables manned the platforms while two RPSF constables armed with semi-automatic rifle were posted for the security of station master.
In addition, armed personnel have been deployed at the entry and exits points of platforms so as to prevent rail passengers gathering on tracks and stage rail rokos. The reason for the heavy deployment of armed personnel is after a series of protests by passengers over repeated delays of the EMU trains from Chennai.
On Wednesday night, hundreds of rail passengers picketed tracks blocking Thiruvananthapuram Express and two EMU trains after the Chennai - Arkakonam EMU local trains were delayed by 50 minutes.
“Special attention will be given during peak hours. Three teams will monitor the passengers movement at Arakkonam,” said Louis Amuthan, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF Chennai. He says anyone blocking the trains will be booked.
But, passengers lament that Chennai division officials seem to be not bothered to address the cause of the protests which is repeated delays of EMU trains to Chennai. For many hailing from the villages around Arakkonam, the EMU trains are their lifeline. They depend on EMU trains to reach Chennai, where most of them work.
“We travel for nearly five to six hours a day for work. Train delays is making everyday life uncertain. The railway board should instead take action against higher officials in Chennai whose negligence leads to rail rokos at Arakkonam,” said S Gandhiram, a regular passenger who took part in the recent protest.
For example, the six passengers arrested for the protests hail from villages around Tiruttani or Arakkonam and all of them are employed in private companies in Chennai or suburbs. They leave home around 5.30 am and return around 10.30 pm everyday.
Passengers cite mismanagement and poor planning of the first phase of yard upgradation in May as the main reason for the delay in EMU trains in recent weeks. Gandhiram says that since May all EMU and Express trains are made to halt at home signals by 20 to 30 minutes, which was not the case earlier.
Passengers questioned the highhanded approach by posting armed personnel and arresting the protesters, instead of acting on the genuine grievances of passengers.
Anyone blocking tracks will be booked: RPF
Louis Amuthan, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF said anyone blocking the trains will be booked. Passengers cited mismanagement and poor planning of the first phase of yard upgradation in May as the reason for the delay in EMU trains in recent weeks. S Gandhiram, a regular passenger, said that since May all EMU and Express trains are made to halt at home signals by 20 to 30 minutes