In the last two days, around 35-40 services have been cancelled daily on WR; this is causing inconvenience to commuters.
If you have experienced delayed trains and cancellations on the Western Railway (WR) over the past two days, then blame the Guards of local trains. The situation on WR is similar to the one on Central Railway (CR), when motormen were responsible for delays in the last week. In both cases there have been disputes with the rail administration.
In the last two days, around 35-40 services have been cancelled daily on WR; this is causing inconvenience to commuters. These services are mainly cutting the schedule of trains during off-peak hours when load is comparatively lesser. "These train cancellations are namely on account of the ongoing issues with the Guards," said a WR official.
The Guards - who are said to be the first responders and stand on the end of motor cab - have been opposing by not working overtime. The issue is about the attendance system where these Guards have been asked to 'sign off' by the WR authorities at the end of the day. They are unhappy about it and feel it is being done to monitor their duty hours.
The Guards claim that they are doing overtime to fill in for vacant posts and so that it does not hurt the suburban system. "We work for 8-9 hours by doing overtime. By making us do the sign-off, we will be forced to go to a station where systems are in place," said a guard on the condition of anonymity.
However, the administration claims that the Guards working on long distance and Goods trains work for 12-14 hours and still complete this task of signing off. The WR authorities claim that the Guards do not work a double set. An average work day is 6-7 hours and they work overtime for another 2-3 hours and not an entire set.
On the suburban system of WR there are 13 terminating stations where these punch-out machines have been fitted. There is a vacancy of around 90-100 posts of Guards on WR. Role of Guards is to ensure that during accidents, passengers get immediate attention for which the Guards inform the station master and Government Railway Police.
Last week, such was the case of disagreement seen on Central Railway with the motormen that was resolved. However punctuality of trains on CR still continues to take a dip as on an average trains are running late by 15-20 minutes for the past two days. The authorities blame it on trespassing accidents happening on the tracks. On Thursday, few trains were running late by nearly 45 minutes.
WHY IT'S A THREAT
- On Thursday, quite a few trains were late; they were delayed by nearly 45 minutes
- Role of Guards is to ensure that during accidents, passengers get immediate attention for which they inform the station master & Govt Railway Police
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