New Toll-free Helpline Number-182 for Railway Passengers
Guwahati
Railway Passenger in distress, travelling on train or at stations, facing security-related issues can receive immediate help from Railway Security Force personnel just by calling an all-India toll-free helpline number – 182.
Any security-related issues like theft of belongings, threat from other passengers, unidentified objects in railway premises or lost luggage etc. are now being addressed by the RPF through security controls set up at divisional levels.
Once a call is received, these security controls ascertain the nature of problems, identify the location of the caller and notify the nearest security team either on board trains or at nearest station. To receive calls to 182, N. F. Railway has provided 13 dedicated telephone lines in five divisions.
A four digit helpline number (1322) was working in N. F. Railway since February 2014. However, with the introduction of the all-India number (182) in July last year, the service has been integrated over the entire Indian Railways. The service has become very popular and useful as many passengers in distress have opted to call 182.
Apart from security related issues, the helpline number also received calls related to emergency medical assistance and the RPF had diligently responded to them. During the last four months, three such calls requesting for medical assistance were received by RPF and in all the three cases medical assistance was provided to passengers.
Most of the calls received by the helpline are, however, related to theft of belongings and lost luggage. In these cases, the RPF helps the passengers to locate their lost luggage and restore them to passengers or help the passengers to register cases with the Government Railway Police belonging to state governments.
In the month of January, RPF had recovered lost luggage in three cases. During the last four months, RPF has also received four complaints regarding nuisance created by hawkers, transgender and others. The helpline number also received a few calls where the callers had failed to contact their relatives travelling on train and had asked for RPF assistance in knowing whereabouts of the relatives.
