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Mumbai: Railways may replace guards with motormen

The guards ensure passengers safety. They check if the commuters have boarded/alighted. During accidents, they are the ones who inform station master and GRP.

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The men who are the first responders during any unwarranted incident involving a local train – the Guards, are at the risk of losing their posts. The Railway Board is toying with the idea of replacing the 'guard' with 'motormen' on suburban EMUs or local trains. Upset with this information, the National Railway Mazdoor Union protested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on July 17.

On June 11, the Railway Board in Delhi had a workshop on increasing average speeds of trains. Senior railway officials said that 25 points were discussed at time. "One of the things was that in suburban section motormen and guards are different but both ends should be manned by motormen," said a senior rail official. The Railway Board members were to take a call on June 30. When contacted chairman of Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said, "I will have to check about the same and inform later."

The rail unions claim that a trial was conducted on goods train. "The post of a guard comes under safety category. This is a bad idea as it will affect passenger safety," said Venu Nair, general secretary, National Railway Mazdoor Union.

In Mumbai, the CR runs 1732 services while WR operates 1355 services daily. There are around 1,400 guards together on both, CR and WR.

The guards ensure passengers safety. They check if the commuters have boarded/alighted. During accidents, they are the ones who inform station master and GRP.

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