Railway ministry wants train crew to avoid running-room gossips for safe operations

New Delhi: The railway ministry wants train crew to be counselled for taking adequate rest and avoiding unnecessary debates in running rooms, among other measures, to prevent cases of red-signal jump.

The ministry, in a letter dated May 30 and addressed to the general managers of all the zones, expressed serious concern over the persistent cases of red-signal jump by the train crew, urging the respective department heads to counsel them on various issues regarding safety and learning.

"Take adequate rest at headquarters and running rooms; avoid unnecessary debates in running rooms. Ensure proper road learning as per instructions for the booked route. Keep mobile phones in the bag in switched off condition during run are some of the reference instructions that the ministry wants the train crew to be counselled about."

In its letter, the ministry has said during the previous year (2024-25), 33 SPAD (Signal Passing At Danger or red signal jump) incidents were reported on the Safety Information Management System (SIMS).

"Despite ongoing preventive efforts, six SPAD cases have been reported this year, indicating the need for rigorous counselling of crew and necessary monitoring and corrective actions by officers and supervisors," it has said.

Sources from various rail divisions said the number of SPAD cases is much higher than what is being reported in the system. "If six cases have so far been reported in the SIMS, the actual number could be much higher as many officers do not report all SPAD cases," a source said.

The letter has summarised about 23 instructions for the counselling of the running staff and 20 for officers and supervisors for reference.

Some of the instructions, besides those mentioned above, said the crew should be counselled about not obtaining operational instructions from the station staff through walkie-talkie and reducing speed gradually when approaching restrictive signal aspects.

Regarding the instructions for officers and supervisors, the letter said they should educate all the running staff on the safety rules, regularly issue updated signal location booklets to all crew members, counsel the loco pilots (LPs) and assistant loco pilots (ALPs) on working in automatic-signalling systems, ensure adequate facilities in running rooms to promote quality rest for the running staff and conduct surprise inspections to verify the conditions.

"Organise safety seminars for family members to promote awareness about the importance of proper rest. Analyse CUG call logs regularly through CMS and take disciplinary action in case of violations. Officers/LIs (loco inspectors) on footplate duty (travelling inside a locomotive) should observe silently and minimise interaction. Counselling must be done in lobbies," it added.