The Railway Board has raised concerns over repeated violations of its directives regarding continuous night duty by running staff, including loco pilots, and called for an alert system to address the issue.
In a letter dated 26 December 2024 to the managing director of the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the Board highlighted discrepancies in adhering to its guidelines.
According to these instructions, “Continuous night duty for running staff should be limited to four nights with the fourth night towards the headquarters.”
The Board noted, “It has been observed that railways are violating these instructions by continuing to book running staff after four consecutive nights due to absence of alert in CMS (Crew Management System).”
The letter cited CMS reports for October, November, and December 2024, which recorded 1,360, 1,224, and 696 cases respectively of loco pilots being assigned five or more continuous night duties.
To curb such breaches, CRIS has been advised to implement alerts in the Crew Management System.
“In CMS reports for the month of October, November and December (till date), total 1360, 1224 and 696 cases of loco pilots with five and more than five continuous night duty were recorded respectively,” the letter stated.
The Board proposed that an alert stating “Three consecutive nights completed” should notify the crew controller when the running staff has completed three consecutive nights outstation. Furthermore, an alert stating “Four consecutive nights completed” should appear at the headquarters upon booking staff for a fifth consecutive night.
“CRIS is advised to provide the above alerts in CMS application,” the letter emphasised, urging prompt implementation. CRIS, an organisation under the Ministry of Railways, develops and maintains critical software for operations, freight services, ticketing, and passenger services.
The introduction of such alert mechanisms aims to ensure compliance with safety protocols and prevent exhaustion among running staff, which can potentially compromise railway operations and safety.
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