ENARADA, Bengaluru, June 15, 2016
It is common to see buses stopping to accommodate the passengers even after it’s departure from the bus stand. Can you ever imagine the same scenario with trains? Well it looks like an impossible option. But, commuters are resorting to pulling alarm chain so that they can bring the train to a screeching halt so the passengers can board the train at their ease.
Senior passengers were lucky enough to board the train after the train halts for second time at Yeshwantpur railway station. Photo by www.enarada.com
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The Howrah-Yeshwanthpur weekly AC express train (22864) departed at 11.15 am from Yeshwanthpur railway station on Wednesday. Though the train departed at the scheduled time, it had to immediately halt as one of the passengers had pulled a chain. As it took a while for the railway authorities to figure out as to where the chain was actually pulled up, a couple who were running late, boarded the train.
However, as the train could barely move ahead, it stopped again as a group of passengers came running to catch the train.
In fact, this team (all senior passengers) had left Marathalli at 8:30AM to catch the Howrah train. However, even after travelling for around two and half hours hours, they could not reach Yeshwanthpur because of a massive jam in the tech corridor. Seeing the plight of the commuters, one of the passengers again pulled the chain. So, after a second stop, the train actually moved ahead. However, there was another set of passengers who now tried to catch the train. As the train was already a delayed starter (as delay in one train can affect the running status of other trains), the loco pilot had no option but to ignore their calls.
Alarm chains in trains are to be used in emergency situations to stop the train. However, incidents of chain-pulling by passengers for trivial reasons seem to be on a rise. Railway officials said that the chain pulling incidents are a big headache.
