Tiruchy: Goods worth Rs 35 lakh handed over to railway passengers from Jan '20 to July '22

TIRUHY: With footfall increasing at railway stations, RPF is seeing an increase in the number of goods accidently left behind by passengers on trains and in waiting rooms at the railway station. From January 2020 to July 2022, the RPF, under Tiruchy railway division covering about 150 stations, has restored goods worth about Rs 35.18 lakh to passengers.

Officials said the number of electronic gadgets, especially mobile phones, left by passengers mostly at charging points inside trains and stations are increasing every year. "People panic when they lose their mobile phones or laptops as these would contain personal information. They also express concern about someone accessing their bank accounts through the lost mobile phones.

We always take immediate action whenever we receive complaints about materials left behind on railway premises. In a hurry to detrain, passengers might forget their mobile phones or electronic gadgets plugged for charging inside the coach.

In a hussy to board an arriving train, people might rush out of waiting halls, forgetting their electronic gadgets plugged for charging on the station premises. Every year, we are seeing an increase in such cases and we have restored most of such materials to passengers," a senior railway official said. Another railway official said, "Sometimes, people forget about luggage kept under their seat inside a coach or the waiting hall. We have come across such cases several times.

In some instances, we have also found ornaments in such luggage. People travelling with several bags might keep them under seats at various places and forget about one or two of them. Whenever we come across such luggage, we would ask for details of the material and return them only after verifying the claims.

We often advise passengers to write addresses inside or outside the bags to help us return the bags." Officials said the RPF team under Tiruchy division has so far returned about 99 per cent of the materials left behind to the rightful owners. "If passengers forget something on the railway premises or trains, the best thing they have to do is to dial Railway Helpline 139 and share the details. They will immediately pass the information to our staff at the location," said RPF's Senior Divisional Security Commissioner S Ramakrishnan

 Box:  * Dial 139, in case you leave behind something on trains or railway premises. The helpline will address various queries, complaints or grievance. Even if you are on board a moving train and dial 139, the system will immediately direct you to the nearest railway control room.  *  If owners could not be traced or unknown, such material will be handed over to the railway's commercial branch. The branch would dispose of the materials through auction.  Retrieval of luggage from trains/railway premises from 2020 to July 2022 Year        No. of mobile phones        No. of laptops        Gold/ Silver worth in Rs        Other items        Total value of items in Rs 2020        17        2        6,52,000        13        9,33,768 2021        60        6        75000        71        15,59,831 Upto July 2022        61        13        2,31,000        68        19,58,725  Total Rs 35,18,556