Tamil Nadu

RPF planning to form quick response teams

MADURAI: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is planning to set up Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to put in place an integrated security system in Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore railway stations, Chief Security Commissioner G.M.P. Reddy has said.

X-ray baggage scanners, facility to scan vehicles for explosives and regulated access points are some of the features proposed at important railway stations, including Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore, he told The Hindu on Tuesday.

Mr. Reddy said more RPF personnel would be given commando training and QRTs would be formed in all divisions of Southern Railway.

“We will be increasingly using closed-circuit televisions for surveillance of passenger movement. More sniffer dogs will be inducted to detect explosives,” he said.

Stating that the Railways, with its vast network, were still vulnerable, he said the force was trying to involve porters, taxi/autorickshaw drivers and vendors to keep vigil on the movement of suspicious elements. “Gone are the days when the security agencies as well as the common man took security measures lightly. Our people cannot be present at all the time everywhere. That is why we are trying to keep the porters and drivers on an alert mode,” he said.

These people who moved around the railway premises could pass on information about suspicious people and unattended parcels.

On the manpower, he said more than the number of people, the quality and fitness of manpower to react to the different situations mattered.

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