Jaipur-Mumbai train shooting: What role does the RPF play in railway security?

Railway Protection Force personnel are deployed for duty at passenger areas, train escorting duties, bandobast duties, evictions, special drives in ladies’ compartments and disabled coaches and assistance to ticket checking duties.

The incident in Palghar, Maharashtra, where an inspector killed his senior and three passengers on board the Jaipur Express earlier this week, has turned the attention to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) – the gun-wielding men and women in khaki who are mandated to protect railway assets across India.

What is RPF and why was it formed?

In 1957, the Railway Protection Force Act was passed to organise a force that would watch over railway assets in India. Before that the forces have been in existence in various avatars since the 19th Century to protect railway systems, ever since trains started in India.

The smaller railway companies that existed in the 18th and 19th Centuries across India, for the country’s railway network, deployed their personnel for the protection of assets and “Watch and Ward” duties. They have been called various names, like “Company Police” and others.