Boarding a train at night? Make sure your phone is fully charged

Next time you boarding a train at night, make sure to charge your phone before starting your journey because Indian Railways may soon put restrictions on charging on mobile phones and laptops during night hours.

Indian Railways has decided to come with directives that shall prevent passengers to charge their mobile and other electronic devices between 11 pm to 5 am to prevent fire hazards on trains.

According to senior officials at Indian Railways, the decision to stop the facility of charging mobile in trains at night is being a precautionary measure.

Western Railways wing of the Indian Railways has already started implementing this decision from March 16. "Keeping in mind the safety of passengers, the railways has decided to keep the charging points in trains switched off from 11 pm to 5 am. It is a Railway Board instruction for all railways. We have started implementing it from March 16," Sumit Thakur, CPRO Western Railway told news agency PTI.

There have been multiple incidents of fire reported in long-distance trains due to overheating of mobile phones and electronic devices that were being charged at night.

The Railways has also instructed zonal railway to commence an awareness drive of seven days to educate all the railway users and employees about precautions to be taken to avoid fire incidents.

This comes after Indian Railways decided to issue severe rules and penalties against smoking in trains after an initial probe stated that smoking was the reason behind a fire at some of the recent onboard trains.

So if you are travelling via train, make sure your phone is already fully charged or carry a power bank with you.