"To stop train pull chain" notice inside railway coaches is soon set to become history. The railway ministry has decided to do away with these chains. An official said railways had incurred a loss of Rs 3,000 crore because trains ran late with the indiscriminate chain-pulling for no good reason.
At Izzatnagar in Bareilly, the work of removing the chains from trains has already begun. Officials say that as an alternative arrangement, the mobile phone number of the driver and assistant driver could be displayed in coaches, so passengers can call in case of an emergency.
Rajendra Singh, public relations officer of the North Eastern Railways, Izzatnagar division, said, "The alarm chains will no longer be installed in new coaches being manufactured at rail coach factories across the country. The Railway Board has already issued a notification requiring that the chains not be installed. Maintenance workshops have already started removing the alarm chains from existing coaches. At Izzatnagar railway workshop, technicians have already started removing the alarm chain from coaches coming in for maintenance."
