
The Western Railway WR seems helpless in taking any action on motormen for holding commuters to ransom by going on strike.
On Thursday, the WR motormen went on hunger strike demanding filling up of vacancies. They maintained the strike would not affect services, but late in the evening one of the motormen fainted and services were suspended for nearly three hours, resuming only after senior WR officials reassured the motormen.
Till that time, angry commuters ran riot at the Churchgate and Marine Drive stations which had to be managed by the Railway Protection Force RPF and additional forces sought by the Mumbai Police.
B S Rath, spokesperson for WR Motormen8217;s Association, justified the srike. Shyam Sunder Gupta, chief spokesperson for WR, said motormen8217;s demands were being addressed but, 8220;There are some demands beyond our purview.8221;
The sanctioned strength of the WR motormen is 440, but only 340 are in service. As many as 1,135 services are run daily. As the WR gets new rakes under the MUTP Phase I, pressure to start new services will increase and require more motormen.