KOCHI: The incident on Sunday night inside the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express has further impaired train passengers’ confidence in the Railways’ capability to prevent crimes. On Sunday, a man boarded a reserved compartment of the train, hurled petrol and set fire, resulting in the death of three and injuring nine. Citing a slew of similar incidents, the Passengers’ association came down heavily against the Railways, bemoaning its lackadaisical attitude in upgrading the security systems on the trains and at the stations.
“This is not the first incident of its kind,” said Liyons J, the secretary of Friends On Rails (a WhatsApp group of railway passengers). He pointed out that the accused in the 2022’s Thiruvalla incident is still absconding, and there’s no significant progress in the case. “What actually works in favour of these criminals is the lack of adequate security measures in the trains and also on the railway stations,” Liyons added.
Paul Manvattom, the president of the All Kerala Railway Users’ Association, concurs. “There’s no better illustration of the Railway’s lackadaisical attitude than the many busted CCTV cameras installed at the station. These cameras were set up using the Nirbhaya funds, but they have all gone kaput,” Paul said, adding that much needs to be done regarding security at the stations.
“Another step that the Railways need to do is install new scanners at the stations. The ones that can be seen at some of the stations have long stopped functioning due to a lack of proper maintenance. Why can’t they do something like the Kochi Metro or the airports?” Paul said.
“When it comes to CCTV cameras, even those that work stop functioning at night,” Liyons alleged. According to him, the lack of sufficient personnel in the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is another issue.
“Even the Government Railway Police (GRP) is in shambles. The personnel for the GRP are sourced from the state police. They take the posting as a break from the usual policing work and do a shoddy job. The utmost that they do is a walk-by inside the train and also on the platform to show that they are present. They then go and sit somewhere unbothered,” Liyons said.
Earlier, they used to keep a cap on a seat to announce their presence, he added. Regarding security and a safe journey, the passengers themselves have to take action, Liyons said, adding that in the Thiruvalla incident, it was the passengers who ran around collecting evidence. However, Railway authorities refuted these accusations. “When it comes to security in the trains and also on the stations, the Railways has always been very vigilant,” said a railway spokesperson.
Previous lapses