Now you cannot charge phones or laptops in the night on express trains

Following the fire in Shatabdi Express, the railway administration has now taken some strict measures and has decided that passengers will no longer be able to charge mobiles and laptops in the express trains while travelling at night.

This decision has been taken by the officials with an aim to prevent fire incidents. A report was shared by Mumbai Mirror which stated that the officials have decided to keep mobile charging points closed at night.

The information was shared by Railways' Chief Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakur who mentioned that the same was being implemented for the safety of passengers, whereby charging points in express trains will not work from 11 pm to 5 am. Officials have noted that mobile and laptops are often charged overnight in long-distance trains and this can lead to fire incidents due to overcharging and heating.

However, the new rule is aimed at reducing these incidents, for which orders have been issued by the concerned authorities. Shivaji Sutar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway added that the team is working towards making all railway employees aware of this. Passengers have also said that charging mobiles and laptops cause many problems and the authorities have gotten at least three complaints in a day about the same.

Another railway official stated that the railways has asked all its employees, including AC mechanics, to keep the charging point non-operational at night and instructions were given to make a surprise visit and see if the charging points were being used or not. Some officials have also called for a ban on smoking while on the journey and stated that if a fire breaks out due to smoking, it causes damage to public property.

Meanwhile, railway unions have opposed the new order and mentioned that the decision to now allow the charging point is not appropriate. Shailesh Goyal, a member of the Western Railway Zonal Users Consultative Committee mentioned that instead of increasing passenger facilities, they are being reduced and officials should reconsider this.