Two railway level crossing gate keepers on Arakkonam – Chengalpattu route were suspended on Thursday on charges of sleeping on duty.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Two railway level crossing (LC) gate keepers between Arakkonam (Ranipet) and Tirumalpur (Kancheepuram) section on Arakkonam – Chengalpattu route were suspended by the Southern Railway on Thursday for sleeping during duty hours.
Railway officials said that the suspension order was issued after a surprise inspection by Senior Divisional Engineer (West) of Southern Railway. The western section of Southern Railway oversees functioning of railway stations between Arakkonam and Jolarpet in Chennai railway division.
The suspended gate keepers have been identified as Karthikeyan, gate keeper for LC-44 at Thakkolam and Ashish Kumar, gate keeper for LC-40 at Sendamangalam on Arakkonam – Tirumalpur section, the officials said.
The surprise inspection was conducted between midnight and 2 a.m. on Thursday on the Arakkonam -Chengalpattu route, a non-interlocked railway level crossing where the role of railway gate keepers remains key for smooth operation of train services and to prevent accidents.
Railway officials said that many level crossings on the Arakkonam – Kancheepuram section have non-interlocked systems as fewer trains were operated on the route. On the contrary, railway level crossings on Arakkonam – Jolarpettai section are signal interlocked due to operation of more trains on the route. On an average, around 120 trains are operated on the route every day, officials added.
The inspection comes in the wake of a school van transporting four students being rammed by a passenger train at a manned gate at Semmankuppam in Cuddalore district on Tuesday (July 8, 2025).
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Published – July 10, 2025 08:49 pm IST
