Loco pilots to protest SR’s compromise on safety

An engine from Royapuram made an unscheduled stop at Washermanpet for want of tracks on the evening of May 4, courtesy the alert loco pilot who found the rails missing and stopped the train. 

Surprisingly, the signal was yellow, clearing movement of train further. Luckily, the bizarre incident had happened in broad day light, which allowed the loco pilot to spot the break in circuit and stop the engine ahead. 

Strangely, the official probe in to the missing track has not reached anywhere with neither the mechanical nor signal or operations department being fixed accountable. A similar incident was reported in the middle of May when Yercaud Express carrying over 1,100 people derailed due to route relay interlocking failure at Arakkonam. 

Curiously, the signal turned red reportedly after the train entered the wrong track and loco pilot crossed the signal. Both the pilot and station manager were pulled up for the snag induced derailment. 

In both cases, the loco pilots had refused to collect memos, while the administration had failed to address the root cause of the problems. It may not continue for long. Loco pilots have threatened to go public against the management on the issue. All India Loco Running Staff Association (ALRSA) has organized a demonstration at the zonal headquarters with the main demand being eliminating ambiguity in case of signal failure and fail safe signaling. 

“They tend to fix accountability on some loco pilot or mechanic without solving the problem. What we insist is clarity so that safety would be optimized and accountability would be rightly fixed,” a senior ALRSA members told DTNext. 

The association has also demanded the zonal bosses to not exploit and thrust four consecutive night duties on loco pilots despite the railway board advising against the same.