RTI reveals 995 loco pilots failed alcohol test in 5 years, many immediately after wrapping up shift: Report

An RTI query about loco pilots have revealed that nearly 1,000 of them have failed breathalyser tests in three zones in the last five years and a third of them did so at the moment of signing off from a shift, a report in The Times of India said.

Filed by activist Chandrashekhar Gaur, the RTI said 995 loco pilots failed the test in total.

A staggering 471 loco pilots violated the rule in Delhi and 181 out of them were passenger train drivers. One hundred and eighty nine of them failed the breathalyser test just after they finished a shift in the driver's cabin.

Train accidents have brought the spotlight back on loco pilots and an accident where an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train in Mathura broke the buffer dead end and climbed a platform in September had found the driver watching his mobile phone while handling the train and reports had suggested he was mildly drunk.

Gujarat, which has banned alcohol, also saw 104 drivers who failed the test, the report said. Forty one among them were drivers of passenger trains.

Mumbai had a relatively less number of loco pilots who were found committing the infraction, only 11 of them, and three among them were passenger train drivers.

Gaur told the publication, "It is appreciable that the railways conducts such tests before crew members sign in for their shift, but it is scary to know that so many loco pilots tested positive for alcohol after signing off from work. The railways should increase the number of tests and go for random testing."

The RTI data received by Gaur covered Western Railway, Northern Railway and West Central Railway zones.

Western Railway has said that 273 loco pilots, including 82 who were driving passenger trains failed the test and the Ratlam division had the most number of violations with 158 such cases.

Northern Railways' Delhi division has said that 181 loco pilots of passenger trains and 290 of goods trains failed breathalyser tests in the five- year time frame, out of which 75 passenger train pilots and 114 goods trains drivers were tested soon after finishing their shifts.

However, the Jabalpur railway division had reportedly informed of lack of a data of such incidents whereas Bhopal had refused to give the information, the report said.