Railways decides to stop engine compartment inspection by assistant drivers

To ensure safe operations, the Railway Board has decided to stop the age-old practice of engine compartment inspection by the assistant driver leaving the driver alone in a running train.

Train drivers, also called loco pilots or LPs, have welcomed the decision, saying in view of the upgraded and modern cabin (engine), which triggers safety indication for any machine fault, manual inspection of various machine compartments inside the engine has become a redundant practice.

"Taking safety as paramount into consideration, it has been decided by the competent authority that inspection of machine room/HT (High Tension) compartment after every neutral section by ALPs/Co LPs on run may be stopped, the board said in a letter addressed to the general managers of all railway zones.

Loco pilots said that when engines that run on electricity with the help of overhead equipment (OHE) shift from one phase of electricity to another, they pass through a neural section where there is no power supply.

"Electricity is supplied in three phases and the train runs on one phase at a time. After every 40 km to 50 km or roughly half-an-hour, the train shifts to another phase of electricity supply. In between these two phases comes a neutral section which is of a varying length of 7 metres to 400 metres. It means that the overhead wire doesn't have any electric current into it," Sukesh Yadav, divisional secretary, North Central Railway Men's Union, said.

"After the engine passes through the neutral section, the assistant loco pilot leaves the responsibility to run the train to the loco pilot and goes inside the machine compartment to check oil leakage, smoke, spark or if all the equipment are working properly. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes and till the time the loco pilot takes care of the train single-handedly, he added.

Loco pilots said that this practice was important for conventional engines and the initial instructions from the railways were for such engines only.

The Railway Board has also clarified that there are no instructions for machine room inspection on run from the manufacturers of the latest three-phase engines but despite that, assistant loco pilots were instructed by their immediate reporting managers to inspect the machine room after every neural section, leaving a loco pilot alone in the driving cab.

"When a train runs at a speed of 130 km/hour, it crosses various red signals, stations and level crossings in 5 to 10 minutes duration, the time that ALP takes to inspect the machine and come back. A slight shift of attention from the loco pilot can turn out to be fatal. It is a good decision by the board," a loco pilot of an express train said, requesting anonymity.

The board has said that assistant loco pilots can inspect machine rooms on unscheduled or scheduled stoppages but not while the train is moving. "Zonal Railways are advised to take necessary action in accordance, the board said.