Porn clip helps usher in changes at Western Railway

The Western Railway (WR) will curb the use of mobile phones by motormen and guards by limiting communication to via radio frequency-based speakers that will be fixed in both their cabins.

The plan, which will be rolled out in six months, comes on the heels of an incident on Tuesday afternoon when a guard had accidentally kept the speaker on while watching porn clips in a running train.

The guard of a Borivali to Churchgate train had unintentionally left the switch of the speaker on and was supposedly watching a pornographic video clip, which could be heard over the announcement systems inside the coaches.

According to an official, requesting anonymity, the motorman could hear the clip being played and tried to signal to the guard by ringing the bell that is usually used to indicate if the motorman can depart from a platform after a halt. “The motorman kept pulling on the string that is connected all throughout the train and is used by both to indicate some problem or the other but it seems the guard was engrossed in the clip and did not realise that everything could be heard,” said the official.

The guard was suspended by Tuesday evening itself and the clinching evidence against him seems to be a recording of the clip being played by a commuter named R. Parekh, who then later filed a complaint against the guard at the Grant Road stationmaster’s cabin. WR divisional railway manager Shailendra Kumar said that the recording seemed to be authentic and action will be taken against the guard if the inquiry found him guilty. “We will wait for the inquiry to make the final decision,” said Mr Kumar.

According to Indian Railways rules, guards or motormen are banned from using mobile phones inside the train and to find a solution to this issue, the WR has already allotted a contract to a Denmark company that will fix speakers with switches next to it. The communication ring in this form of radio communication will include the motorman, guard, stationmaster and control room.

“Yes, we finally finished all the legal work with the telecom ministry a few days ago and hope that the system will be rolled out six months from when it gets the approval. The project will cost approximately '6 crore and although their official mobiles will remain with them, direct communication between all four will be direct, faster and not based on phone signal,” said Mr Kumar. The inquiry against the guard will begin on Thursday morning at Churchgate.