RailEnquiry

CHENNAI: More than 40 vacancies in the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force personnel have left chinks in the security cover at Egmore railway station. What is more, door-frame metal detectors and baggage scanners don't work most of the time.

Egmore, where 60 major and 160 suburban trains either originate or halt every day, handles 1,40,000 passengers. According to sources, the station has a sanctioned strength of 202 GRP and RPF personnel, but only 162 are available. "Most of the police personnel who are deputed to GRP get transferred to their home districts or they prefer police stations within a few months. As a result, we face a shortage. We will soon fill the vacancies," a police officer said.

"Only a few RPF personnel man the entrance of Platform No. 4 and there is no regular patrol on other platforms. In fact, there are no police personnel to be found after 11pm," said Sandeep Kumar, a student and a frequent train commuter. "There are CCTV cameras along the platforms, but I am not sure if they can make up for the lack of security personnel."

Praffula Dadaria, a pilgrim from Chhattisgarh going to Rameswaram via Chennai, said, "I have been waiting at the station for several hours, but I haven't seen a single GRP man though the police booth is just adjacent to the ticketing counter." When TOI visited the station recently on an afternoon, neither metal detectors nor baggage scanners were found to be working. But officials said they were in good condition. "We did an inspection recently and found the metal detectors and baggage scanners were working," said S R Gandhi, senior divisional security commissioner, Southern Railway. Another officer said the equipment are functional, but they are switched on only during peak hours.

Souther Railway chief public relations officer V J Accama said there are limitations. "Railways has limited space. The rest belongs to the state government. We can't extend or modify our structures without government permission," she said.

The authorities say there is nothing wrong with the security at the station.

Egmore station master Ramesh Babu refused to comment. GRP Additional director general said commuters can call the GRP helpline 9962500500 for help.