Overview
- Railway Board letter dated October 26 ordered every zonal railway to ensure charging sockets in coaches are switched off from 11 pm to 5 am with no exceptions.
- The directive follows a power‑bank explosion on the Mumbai‑Howrah Mail that produced smoke and briefly halted the train on October 24, prompting renewed enforcement.
- Zonal managers must counsel and train onboard staff and carry out surprise inspections at officer and supervisor levels to check that sockets are turned off.
- The Board noted charging points are already being shut in AC coaches but said continuous enforcement in non‑AC and sleeper stock faces cost and staff‑deployment limits, creating an implementation gap.
- Passengers are advised to fully charge phones and essential devices before travel because overnight socket access will be unavailable and unattended charging can cause fire, smoke or theft.