Railway Loco Pilots Allege Manipulation of Duty Hours: A Growing Safety Concern

The All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) is raising alarm over alleged manipulations in the recording of loco pilots' working hours by multiple railway zones. These manipulations reportedly involve falsely logging crew duty breaks to mask the excessive utilization of train drivers, drawing attention to critical safety and staffing issues.

Loco pilots are legally restricted to 9 hours of continuous work per session, with a maximum of 11 hours from sign-on to sign-off. Despite directives for 80% of trips to remain within the 9-hour threshold, the union claims that zones are regularly breaching these limits due to a significant staff shortage.

Following complaints, the Dhanbad division in East Central Railway warned of strict disciplinary actions for entering false duty breaks. This move follows data indicating thousands of such manipulations across several divisions, highlighting the pressure to conceal excessive working hours to meet operational demands.

(With inputs from agencies.)