Bareilly, June 9: “To stop train pull chain” notice inside railway coaches will not be seen here after. The railway ministry has decided to remove these chains.
An official said railways had incurred a loss of Rs 3,000 crore because trains ran late with the indiscriminate chain-pulling for no good reason.
As an alternative arrangement, the mobile phone number of the driver and assistant driver could be displayed in coaches, so passengers can call in case of an emergency, said the officials.
Rajendra Singh, public relations officer of the North Eastern Railways, Izzatnagar division, said, the alarm chains will no longer be installed in new coaches being manufactured at rail coach factories across the country. The Railway Board has already issued a notification requiring that the chains not be installed. Maintenance workshops have already started removing the alarm chains from existing coaches. At Izzatnagar railway workshop, technicians have already started removing the alarm chain from coaches coming in for maintenance.
He said that in addition to displaying the mobile phone numbers of the driver and assistant driver, one employee carrying a walkie-talkie would be present for every three coaches in each train.
The chain was rampantly misused by travellers who pulled it in self-interest rather that in case of emergency. People pull the chain when relatives or friends might miss the train, Singh said.
