Indian Railways has decided to not allow passengers to use charging stations for electronic devices on trains between 11 pm and 5 am, PTI reported on Tuesday, citing senior officials. The decision was taken as a measure to prevent fire incidents.

The Western Railways has already implemented the decision by cutting off the supply to the charging points since March 16.

“It is a Railway Board instruction for all railways,” Western Railway Chief Public Relation Officer Sumit Thakur said. “We have started implementing it from March 16.”

Southern Railway Chief Public Relation Officer B Guganesan said that the instructions are a reiteration of the earlier orders of the Railway Board. “In view of the recent incidents of fire, we have done the needful,” he said. “It is a precautionary measure and even earlier the Railway Board had issued such orders. The power from the main switchboard for these points will be switched off from 11 pm to 5 am.”

These instructions came following incidents of fire on some trains. Railway officials said that many incidents of minor fire were caused because of overcharging electronic devices. Officials had suggested in a report on fires that the charging points for electronic devices should be switched off at night.

The national carrier has announced initiatives against smoking and carrying inflammable items that are also one of the reasons behind recent fires onboard trains. It has also instructed zonal railways to carry out a 7-day awareness drive for all stakeholders, including railway users and employees, on precautions to be taken against fire incidents.

On March 13, a coach of the Dehradun-bound Shatabdi Express had caught fire in a suspected case of a short circuit. Six days later, a fire broke out in the engine of a static goods train at the Ranchi station.