Central Railway compares rooftop travelling to walking on eggshells

Central Railway’s drive against rooftop travellers for the past three weeks where 99 persons have been caught and prosecuted has proved to be a tall order, what with the Railway Police Force (RPF) almost forced to plead with these commuters lest they panic and touch overhead wires carrying 1,500 to 25,000 volts of electricity.

According to officials, CR undertook the drive in October when a rooftop traveller damaged an important piece of equipment at Tilak Nagar station, causing 30 trains to be cancelled on harbour line. “Usually, it’s the relatively younger crowd that tends to travel on the rooftop. If we yell at them or say something aggressive, they will try to get off the train and in doing so, some part of their body like the head or hand is likely to touch the overhead wire causing them to be electrocuted. Hence, we have to almost request them to get off the train though they are breaking the law,” said a senior RPF official requesting anonymity.

“Some people are calm but don’t get down while others panic and try to go ahead and get off at a spot where they can get out of the station premises. Of course, a few of them get electrocuted. So, we are in a very difficult position where we have to keep an eye on the person and calm him down if he gets too anxious,” he added.

Till now, the drive has been limited to troublesome spots on harbour line like Mankhurd, Govandi, Chembur, Tilak Nagar and Kurla but RPF officials said the drive needs to be started on the mainline as well. “There was a lull in rooftop travelers on the mainline but we have started seeing a few of them in areas like Mumbra and Kalwa so we are going to restart the drive on the mainline coming Monday,” said senior divisional security commissioner Sachin Bhalode.