Few commuters care to follow safety rules at manned level crossings

Amritsar, August 29

The purpose of the manned railway crossings is to ensure the safety of people during the time of passing of a passenger or a goods train. The gates at these crossings are closed to ensure their safety, but there a section of commuters who can be seen pushing their two wheelers and even rickshaws from under the closed bars at most of the railway crossings.

The illegal crossing of some commuters under the closed gates is against the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act as well as the Railway Act. Illegal crossings at manned railway crossings are rampant due to shortage of staff to penalise the law breakers. Despite occurrence of several fatal accidents at the railway crossings in the past, many local residents seem to have learnt no lesson as they risk their lives daily to save a few minutes.

The city has a number of railway crossings, where a huge rush of people can be seen every time a crossing is closed to give passage to a train. The railway crossings at Ram Bagh and Bhaiyan Da Shivala are especially vulnerable as these are on the main rail route from Amritsar to Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Delhi and several other destinations in the country.

“People have no patience and are not ready to wait even for a few minutes. Two-wheeler drivers try to push their vehicles from under the iron bars even as they see a train fast approaching them,” said Rattan Singh, a resident, urging that people should become more alert when a train is approaching a level crossing.

The railways had earlier lowered the height of the iron bars installed to check illegal crossings, but it has failed to act as a deterrent.

A gate man at a railway crossing said, “People do not listen and are always ready to fight. Sometimes two-wheelers get stuck under the iron bars and people have to use force to remove them.”