Pulling chain to stop train worries railway officials

Instances high in the past 6 months; long-distance trains worst affected

The emergency brake, popularly known as chain, in the compartments of the train, is meant to be used only during an emergency or danger. However, it has become a matter of grave concern for the officials at the Bangarpet Railway Station.

However, people travelling in the express and non-stop trains which does not have a scheduled stop at the Bangarpet station, pull the chain and bring train to a grinding halt to avail a stop.

The perpetrators resort to the nasty trick when the train is about to approach the station or is at a distance of a kilometre) The ‘chain pulling’ instances, off late have increased creating lot of troubles to the railway authorities and to the passengers.

People who travel regularly from Bangarpet and Kolar Gold Fields to other stations are involved in such acts, said Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Though it appears to be minor incident, it has far reaching consequence. The chain pulling, known as Inter-Chain Communication (ICC) incidents not only affect the timings of the host train but also adversely affects the trains travelling on the route and their schedule.

How it works?

The chain system is interconnected to all the coaches of the train. Hence, when a chain is pulled in one coach, the brake system in the coaches jams to bring the train to an immediate halt. In this period, the train is not under the control of driver. One of the difficult task for guards or drivers is to identified the coach, where the chain has been pulled. 

The train can only move if the chain is restored back to its original position. The entire process consumes 15 to 25 minutes resulting in delay in the arrival and departure schedule of the train.

Some of the trains travel as far as 1,500 km to 2,000 km. ICC incidents in these trains can affect a whole lot trains, the railway staff said.

The ICC incidents are common in the non-stop trains travelling on the Jolarapet-Bangalore route. As many as two to three incidents are reported every week on from the trains, RPF officials said.

Every day prior to the arrival of the non stop trains, the RPF staff along with technical staff guard up to one kilometer stretch from the Station to avoid ICC incidents. In spite of this, it is difficult to stop the incidents, they added.

The instances are high in trains like - Shatabdi (no 12028), Bhuvaneshwar Express (12846), Tata (12890), Darbanga (12578), Duranto (12246), Bhagalpur (12253), Kochivelu (16315), Shatabdi (12008), Dibrugarh (15901) and Hatiya (12835).

Recurrence

The recurrence is even higher in trains like Bhuvaneshwar, Darbanga, Bhagalpur, Dibrugarh and Hatiya, Railway officials added.

The passengers who try to flee after pulling the chain are apprehended and the person who actually pulled the chain is levied a fine of Rs 1,000. The instances have increased in the past six months and more than six people have been fined for the act,  Protection Force official said.

Some of the main reason for the occurrence of ICC incidents is lack of proper train facility and stop facility. Further, it is compounded by the ignorance and lack of awareness among the people. It was also found that many people were not even aware of the railway rules, an official added.

Recently, 60 people were apprehended for the ICC incident on Bhagalpur-Yashwantpur train. During the interrogation, the person responsible for the incident was identified and fine was levied, sources in railway  said.