Mumbai commuters are reportedly known for travelling in motor coaches that are attached to every third compartment of local trains with the help of duplicate keys. These coaches are generally under lockdown and stringently beyond reach to workers.
Video records which are received by paper show where workers can be seen using the copy keys to open the coaches and travel in them before locking them again.
There is a small knob inside each motor coach that is connected to the train’s brakes and is, therefore, always locked. Messing with this handle prompts the critical electro-pneumatic brakes not to work, delivering the principal brakes insufficient. Since only railway employees or police officers have access to the keys, Central Railways officials have expressed concern.
Experts say that unauthorised entry into a local service motor coach is risky for the offenders as well as for train movement. In addition to being illegal, this poses a threat to the intruders’ lives and could result in their death. The retired general manager of South Central Railway and former Principal Chief Electrical Engineer of Central Railway, PK Srivastava, stated, “The department should act firmly to curb this menace, lest some serious mishap occurs.”
Former Central Railway general manager Subodh Jain has also warned of the serious safety risks posed by unlicensed individuals tinkering with the coach’s equipment section’s wires and switches.
The railroads suspect that the people who travel wrongfully in the engine mentors are, by and large, rail line workers or government rail route police staff who would rather not travel in other pressed compartments during times of heavy traffic.
The revelation of individuals going in these mentors with genuine keys raises serious worries about the security of Mumbai’s nearby trains. To ensure the safety of commuters and prevent unauthorised access to these coaches, railway officials must act immediately.