Crime reporting campaign launched on Indian rail network

Date: 8/10/2009

An awareness campaign has been launched in India to warn people of the dangers of crime on trains and encourage them to report it.

According to the Times of India, the Railway Protection force and the Government Railway Police (GRP) have teamed up with Southern Railway to help make journeys safer.

S K Kulshrestha, divisional manager at Chennai railway division, told the newspaper: "We decided to spread awareness, to prevent passengers from falling prey to gangs on trains … and also caution them about thieves targeting baggage."

The move has been taken in time for the Deepavali festival when many people are likely to be using trains to travel the country.

A special helpline has been launched by the GRP for people to call should they experience crime on trains.

All major stations on the Southern Railway network will have flyers distributed to publicise the campaign.

During the Deepavali festival, Southern Railway has announced a number of additional services to deal with increased demand, with routes from Chennai Egmore to Tirunelveli and Hubli to Kochuveli benefiting.