Railway police identified several trains vulnerable to passenger luggage theft in the Vijayawada division. They intensified patrolling in night running trains and introduced a passenger luggage tag system to control suitcase robbery. Over 292 passenger trains pass thro-ugh Vijayawada railway st-ation daily, including hundred trains during night. Most luggage thefts occur during the early hours while passengers are asleep.

More theft cases are reported in air-conditioned classes, where passengers do not lock their suitcases with a chain, according to railway authorities.

To prevent increasing suitcase thefts in running trains, railway police conducted an analysis from 2009 and identified trains vulnerable to luggage thefts in the division.

These include the God-avari Express bound for Hyderabad and Visakhap-atnam, Gowtami express, Inter-city express, Falakn-uma express, Yeswantpur express, Konark express, GT express, Seshadri, Krishna, East Coast, Simhapuri, Narsapur, Mac-hilipatnam, Janmabhoomi and Visakhapatnam-Nizamabad special trains. Railway police have stepped up patrolling in these trains as most proceed at night. Railway police introduced the tag system for passengers’ luggage in AC compartments on November 16 last year to prevent theft of luggage during the early hours.

They ask passengers for luggage tags when they get down from the compartments in the early hours to prevent theft of luggage.

Speaking to this paper, the Railway SP, Dr M. Naganna, said that there was an improvement in awareness among passengers after introducing the tag system for luggage in AC compartments.

He said that results after introducing the new system were encouraging. In addition, patrolling in night trains was increased.