The Railway Board has directed all railway zones to strictly enforce a night-time ban on mobile phone and laptop charging in train coaches between 11 pm and 5 am, citing fire safety concerns after a passenger’s power bank exploded on a train in South Eastern Railway.
In a letter dated October 26, the board said onboard staff had failed to switch off charging points during the stipulated hours in an incident in the South Eastern Railway zone. A passenger’s power bank subsequently exploded while charging, generating smoke.
“ In view of the above, all Zonal Railways are advised to issue necessary instructions to all concerned staff to ensure strict compliance for mobile charging points to invariably remain switched off from 11 pm to 5 am,” the board said, ruling out exceptions.
The board has also directed railway zones to train the concerned staff and conduct surprise inspections at the officers’ and supervisors’ levels to ensure compliance.
The restriction dates back to June 2014, when the Railway Board ordered that charging points in air-conditioned coaches be switched off between 11 pm and 5 am, following a fire in an AC 3-tier coach of the Hazur Sahib Nanded–KSR Bengaluru Express in the Bengaluru division of South Western Railway in 2013.
The decision followed a recommendation by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, that charging points in AC coaches be switched off between 10 pm and 6 am. The board subsequently prescribed the 11 pm to 5 am window, citing safety and passenger convenience, and directed railways to display stickers informing passengers of the restriction.
The issue resurfaced after a fire in November 2023 in a sleeper-class coach of the New Delhi–Darbhanga Humsafar Clone Special in the Sarai Bhopat–Etawah section of the Prayagraj division of North Central Railway. The fire spread through the coach and engulfed adjoining coaches.
The CRS recommended that charging points in sleeper-class coaches also be switched off during the night, in line with the practice in AC coaches. However, the Railway Board said in its action-taken report that while charging points in AC coaches were switched off during the stipulated hours, deploying staff to enforce the arrangement in non-AC coaches was not feasible because of the high cost involved.
On March 6, South East Central Railway issued similar instructions to its divisions, saying charging points in AC coaches on trains passing through Nagpur division were often left powered throughout the night, in violation of the Railway Board’s order.
The zone warned that unattended charging devices posed potential fire risks and that leaving mobile phones connected overnight could increase the risk of theft.
(With inputs from PTI)
