Railways issues guidelines to standardise training of staff working in Automatic Block System

New Delhi: In a bid to bring standardisation in training of staff working in the Automatic Block System in various railway zones, the Railway Board has issued new training guidelines for station masters, train managers (known as guards), pointsmen and traffic inspectors.

According to the Board, these guidelines, issued on August 16, will be implemented across all 17 railway zones in the country to bring standardisation in the training regime for automatic signalling.

The railway has two systems of train working- Automatic Block System and Absolute Block System. In the Automatic Block System, trains are operated on the basis of automatically-regulated signal aspects. Meanwhile, in the Absolute Block System, only one train is allowed to operate within two stations.

According to sources, the Railway Board took the initiative after the Kanchanjunga Express tragedy in which the lack of standardisation of railway norms and training of staff working in the Automatic Block System in various railways zones had emerged as one of the reasons for the accident.

Recently, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the ministry initiated the process of bringing uniformity in subsidiary rules (SR) of all 17 railway zones after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) flagged contradictions in these norms in its investigation report in the Kanchanjunga train accident that took place on June 17.

The guidelines also say that there will be two new types of training -- Periodical and Newly Commissioner Section -- for station master as well as pointsman. Besides standardising the trainings, the Railway Board is also working to unify railways norms of working in an Automatic Block System, said an official in the railways.