Railways Enforce Night-Time Charging Ban
The Railway Board directs all zones to switch off mobile and laptop charging points between 11 pm and 5 am to prevent fire accidents aboard trains.
The Railway Board has directed all railway zones to strictly enforce its 2014 order requiring mobile phone and laptop charging points in train coaches to be switched off between 11 pm and 5 am to prevent fire accidents.
The directive follows an incident on a South Eastern Railway train in which a passenger's power bank exploded, emitting smoke, after onboard staff failed to switch off the charging points during the stipulated hours.
In a circular, the board instructed all zones to ensure that charging points remain switched off during these hours without exception.
The board also directed railway authorities to train staff and conduct surprise inspections at the officers' and supervisors' levels to ensure compliance.
The restrictions were first introduced in June 2014 following recommendations by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) after a fire in an AC three-tier coach of the Hazur Sahib Nanded–KSR Bengaluru Express in 2013.
The CRS had recommended switching off charging points in air-conditioned coaches between 10 pm and 6 am. The Railway Board subsequently fixed the restriction from 11 pm to 5 am, taking passenger convenience into account. Railways were also advised to display stickers informing passengers of the restriction.
Another fire occurred in November 2023 in a sleeper-class coach of the New Delhi–Darbhanga Humsafar Clone Special near Etawah. The blaze spread to adjoining coaches, prompting the CRS to recommend extending the restriction to sleeper-class coaches.
However, the Railway Board subsequently stated that deploying staff to enforce the restriction in non-AC coaches was not feasible because of the high cost involved.
In March this year, South East Central Railway issued similar instructions after finding that charging points in AC coaches passing through its Nagpur division were being kept operational throughout the night.
The railway zone warned that unattended charging devices posed fire risks and increased the chances of mobile phone theft during night hours.