RailEnquiry

Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel will now stand by busy train ticket examiners (TTEs) inside the long-distance trains as well as at ‘sensitive’ railway stations in Gujarat. Concerned over safety of passengers and railway proprieties, the railway board has issued orders to this effect to the RPF stations in the state. A senior railway official here told Khaleej Times that the decision followed recent alerts of terror threats and alleged border intrusions from the neighbouring countries.He said RPF personnel would assist TTEs in checking visitors and passengers on railway stations on daily basis, besides checking all compartments of trains heading to the southern states and Jammu and Kashmir.“Terror threats as well as incidents of illegal supply of arms, narcotics, hawala money have increased. Trains are becoming easy access for elements spreading terror”, the official said.For this, RPF stations at major railway stations in Gujarat will be revamped and equipped with more manpower. Also, railway stations in coastal areas of Gujarat and Kutch sharing the border with Pakistan will be specially kept under the watch of the RPF.Railway officials have also been directed to keep a strict vigil on ncreasing infiltration from Bangladesh as intruders are using the railways to reach various destinations in the country.Two years ago, TTEs were trained to double up as security agents providing crucial information about suspicious baggage or behaviour of passengers onboard trains, hitherto done by RPF personnel only. The experiment did not succeed even after informing the TTEs about security-related emergent situations which may arise onboard trains and ways to deal with the situation effectively.