Armed RPF men to guard trains in Hubli division

In order to make rail journey hassle free, the Hubli division of the South Western Railway has decided to deploy Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel with arms, ammunition and other modern gadgets to prevent thefts and any other nefarious activities in trains.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, divisional railway manager Praveen Kumar Mishra said that eight important railway stations, namely Hubli, Hospet, Bellary, Belgaum, Vasco- Da-Gama, Koppal, Londa and Castlerock, have been provided with closed-circuit television surveillance systems to curb the menace of touts and unauthorised vendors.

A series of checks are also being conducted, he informed.

“The RPF division has registered 2,865 cases under various sections of the Railway Act and collected fines to the tune of Rs 6.92 lakh,” Mishra said.

Regarding its achievement, he said that the Hubli was one of the top 10 revenue-generating divisions of the Indian Railways.

He also said that originating freight loading from the Hubli division in the current financial year till July was 8,947 million tonnes while the earnings were estimated to be about Rs 765 crore.

Mishra also said that 512 special trains were started and 177 additional coaches were attached by the Hubli division to clear the rush of passengers during peak periods which earned them an additional Rs 1.50 crore.