BENGALURU: The Railway Police Force on Sunday introduced a queue system outside general compartments of trains departing from Bangalore City railway station and Yeshwantpur railway station.
The move is an effort to put an end to cornering of seats in general compartments allegedly by porters and a handful of railway staff. It would be a permanent feature and is being done to regulate overcrowded unreserved compartments, said RPF sources.
“An 80-strong contingent of Railway Special Police Force from Vijayawada was dispatched to Bangalore Railway Division in connection with bandobast duty during the recent rail roko agitation over Cauvery issue. The personnel will be in the city for a few months and we decided to use them effectively for these operations,” said a top RPF official.
A senior official said that during the last two months, 10 cases were booked against people for blocking seats in the general compartments. “Thirty cases of unreserved ticket holders occupying reserved seats too were booked during the same period. Passengers have been doing this with help from porters and railway staff too.” The queue system and checking inside trains would put an end to this, he said.
Fine amounts ranging between `500 and `1,000 have been levied from those who were booked for blocking tickets, he said.
Every train has two to four general compartments. At the City railway station on Sunday, the queue system was introduced for Karnataka Express, Udyaan Express, Hampi Express, Kacheguda Express and the Gol Gumbaz Express. “The system will be in place from 5am to 8.30am and 5pm to 10pm at this station.”
At Yeshwantpur, it was launched for north and east bound trains. “Passengers planning to go by general compartments of trains heading to Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal were made to queue up,” said an official. The system would be in place at Yeshwantpur station between 6am and 10am and from 4pm to 10pm, he added.
The queue system was first introduced at City railway station by the end of 2014. But it wasn’t permanent due to staff shortage. “This time we intend to make it permanent,” a top cop said.
