Loco pilots get reprieve from draconian rules

Hyderabad: The Railway Board has issued revised norms and guidelines for punishment to be imposed on loco pilots and assistant loco pilots in case of Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD) on Monday. In the past, when a loco pilot surpassed a signal even by a few metres, he was removed from service and there was no way he could explain the circumstances under which it happened.

In a major relief to loco pilots (there are 69,000 loco pilots in the country), the new norms will now enable them to defend themselves. In the past, there have been several instances when a loco pilot surpassed a signal due to heavy fog, but he could not argue his case. K Siva Kumar, divisional secretary, South Central Railway Mazdoor Union, says, “The new norms will bring a lot of relief to loco pilots who are under severe stress as they are already pitching above their weight.

At least, they can now explain their cases.” On an average, about 12-14 loco pilots are removed from service every year due to SPAD. There are close to 6,000 loco pilots in South Central Railway (SCR). As per the Hours of Employment and Regulation (HOER) rules, from the moment of signing in and signing off, a loco pilot has to work for 10 hours, and should have a gap of not more than 72 hours. One has to put in 104 hours of work every fortnight. However, due to lack of staff, loco pilots work more hours.

“Ninety nine per cent of SPADs happen due to deprivation of sleep. Once a pilot works for 8 hours, he has to be given 16 hours rest but citing lack of staff, we are called on duty even before we recoup from the last journey,” said a loco pilot.

A loco pilot has to keep a watch on signals every single minute as a signal whizzes past him every minute. Apart from keeping a watch on signals, a loco pilot has to keep pressing the Vigilance Control Device (VCD) every 60 seconds failing which the trains come to a halt automatically after 72 seconds. The moment a pilot takes charge of the loco, he is busy and does not have time to even have food or attend to nature’s call.

There is no provision of water closets in locomotives. The Indian Railway Loco Running Men’s Organisation (IRLRO) approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the issue after the Railway Board informed that the demand of drivers cannot be fulfilled.