Railways to book boozers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Southern Railways has launched a special drive to book drunken passengers. The drive is in the wake of increasing number of complaints from woman passengers, said Railway Protection Force Divisional Security Commissioner K J Joy.“In the majority of the cases filed by woman travellers, the accused are drunkards and this has prompted us to launch a special drive,” he said.If any person is found in an inebriated state either during the travel or on the railway premises, he will be booked under Section 145 of the Railways Act.In such cases, the railways can ask the traveller to deboard the train and his ticket will be cancelled. There is also a provision to book him and he may get six-month imprisonment or Rs 500 fine.The railway officials said that the drunken travellers had become nuisance for woman travellers, especially during night. Special teams have also been formed to conduct checking.