Railway Board directs station masters to strictly follow track clearance protocols

New Delhi: The Railway Board has instructed all zones that only Station Masters will be authorised to allow trains to enter a track after manual verification in instances where the axle counter incorrectly shows the track as occupied due to technical faults.

Occasionally, due to technical faults, the wheel-sensing machine (called the axle counter) may mistakenly show that a track is occupied when it is actually clear.

In such situations, safety protocols require that only a station master or an assistant station master manually confirm the track's status and reset the axle counter -- in case of a fault -- before allowing another train to proceed.

However, recent instances have revealed violations of this protocol, where station masters have verbally delegated this responsibility to signal maintainers or engineers, according to the Board. In some cases, when incidents occurred, responsibility was shifted onto signal staff, raising concerns about accountability and adherence to safety norms.

Referring to one such violation that came to its notice, the Railway Board said, "In a recent case, it has been observed that the defined protocol was not followed. Such deviations can lead to unsafe train operations."

"As per codal provisions, all manual reset of axle counters are to be initiated only by the ASMs (assistant station masters) on duty after following the due procedure," the Board's direction, addressed to general managers of all railway zones, said.