In a video that went viral on social media, a senior loco pilot can be seen crawling under the train which was stranded on a river bridge from a narrow gap between the wheel and underbelly equipment of the coach in order to reset the alarm chain knob. This averted delays for other trains and saved the time of many passengers. It is understood that some miscreants had pulled the chain and stopped the Godan Express on the Kalu river bridge. While the loco pilot should be felicitated for the brave and timely action, strict action needs to be taken against the miscreants who pulled the alarm chain. Train passengers should realize that the alarm chain pulling should be resorted to in only emergency cases. It is learnt that 197 cases of alarm chain pulling were reported in Mumbai division of the Central Railway within a fortnight from April 16 to 30, 2022. Even though repeated announcements are made not to indulge in alarm chain pulling unnecessarily, some passengers do it on flimsy grounds. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) needs to take strict against the miscreants. It seems necessary to increase the penalty for unnecessary alarm chain pulling along with a prison term. This is necessary since such activity by miscreants causes delay and inconvenience to the passengers of the entire train and can even lead to a rail accident in case another train is running on the same rail route.
