Legal limitation stops Railway officials from enforcing guidelines

As the COVID wave continues to sweep through the city, railway authorities here look up to the Railway Board (RB) to crack down on violators. Railway officials said they could not enforce rules like their civic counterparts who penalise people for violating norms. Right now, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) only invokes Section 145 (B) of the Railway Act, which provides for imposing a fine of Rs 100 on people for causing nuisance.

A highly placed railway officer admitted on condition of anonymity that they were expecting something from the RB shortly so that they would be legally empowered to penalise violators. “Right now, we can only advise commuters to follow COVID safety protocols. If someone does not wear a mask or maintain social distance, we cannot penalise them straightaway like Corporation staff do. At best, we can only advise them. Our staff have been asked to exhort people to comply with safety norms for the public good,” said the railway officer, referring to an awareness drive conducted by the division in Egmore station to educate travellers on Tuesday. “In worst cases, we take violators to a magistrate and penalise them for nuisance under the Railway Act. It is not easy to offload a passenger from an express/mail train and take them to a magistrate,” said the officer.

As of now, rail users entering stations to board express/mail trains are screened using thermal scanners at the entrance of stations like Chennai Central and Egmore. However, it is not easy to enforce the same in neighbouring MMC where over a lakh and a half people frequent daily. “We scrutinise people for masks at the suburban station entrance. Problem arises when passengers remove masks after they board the train,” the officer complained.

Suburban train crew concurred with their officials and said the commuters neither follow social distancing norms nor wear masks.