The Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Chennai Division of Southern Railway has expressed its inability to prevent crimes against those travelling in ladies’ coaches, citing manpower constraints and has asked the railway authorities to shift the coaches meant for women attached in the front/rear of Electric Multiple Unit/Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (EMU/MEMU) trains or suburban trains to the middle of the formation.
The RPF is mandated with the task of protecting and safeguarding railway passengers, passenger area and railway property. After a series of crimes against women were reported in EMU/MEMU trains in Chennai Division, the RPF has requested the Electrical Branch of the Southern Railway to shift all ladies’ coaches attached in the front/rear of EMU/MEMU trains to the middle so that it would be easy for the personnel to provide security to women passengers, sources in the railways told The Hindu on Sunday.