Motormen stir exposes Western Railway’s inability to handle emergencies

The motormen’s agitation on Thursday once again highlighted the Western Railway’s (WR) inability to react quickly to the contingency situations, as a group of motormen, who drive suburban local trains on WR, virtually brought the local trains to a standstill after going on an undeclared mass leave between 4.30pm and 5.30pm.

The strike was organised to blackmail the railway administration into agreeing to their demand of reinstating a motorman who was to be dismissed after being found guilty of ramming a train into a dead end.

With incomprehensible announcements being broadcast over the public broadcast system, thousands of commuters, inconvenienced by the BEST’s bus strike, were forced to wait at the crowded platforms to board a train which could take them home.

The WR had to cancel 25 trains between Churchgate and Virar. More than 60 motormen reported sick in the afternoon resulting in stationary trains at Churchgate.
Even though the strike was only an hour long, it took several hours for the services to be normalised, adding to the commuters’ frustration.

In the previous three years, city’s rail commuters have had to endure an increasing number of strikes by the motormen who have managed to successfully disrupt the lifeline of the country’s financial capital. Criticism is growing about how a not-so-large number of motormen repeatedly hold the city’s rail network to ransom, ensuring that even their unfair demands are fulfilled by the railway administrations.

Commuters meanwhile have been unsparing in their criticism.

Mital Mane, a resident of Andheri, said, “Why can’t the railway have some sort of a contingency plan?”