Indian Railways to Enforce Overnight Shutdown of Train Charging Points

Indian Railways has directed all zonal railway authorities to strictly enforce a ban on mobile phone charging in trains between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., according to officials. The Railway Board has instructed staff to carry out surprise inspections during overnight journeys to ensure the rule is followed without exception.

The renewed push comes after an incident in the South Eastern Railway zone, where a power bank reportedly exploded while charging because staff failed to switch off the charging points during the designated hours. The explosion caused smoke and panic among passengers, though no major injuries were reported, officials said.

Senior railway officials noted that the circular requiring charging circuits to be shut off overnight was originally issued more than ten years ago, but enforcement had become inconsistent on some trains. Some officials suggested that the real priority should be preventing power banks from being charged during the overnight window, rather than banning phone charging entirely, and cautioned against indiscriminately increasing the number of charging points in coaches.

In a separate development, train services on the South Central Railway route toward Visakhapatnam, including the Godavari Express and Visakha Express, resumed after a day's disruption caused by Cyclone Arnab, following improved weather conditions. However, at least 11 pairs of connecting express trains linking Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Narsapur and Srikakulam to Secunderabad, Lingampalli and Cherlapalli remained cancelled.

Railway officials said normal operations are expected to resume fully by Thursday. Around six trains, including the Visakhapatnam-Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express and the Cherlapalli-Shalimar Express, were rescheduled by 180 to 280 minutes due to the weather-related disruption.