Railway Reviews Safety Measures To Operate Smooth, Secure Trains

By Chanchal Mukherjee

New Delhi: The railway has reviewed various safety audits and special drives being carried out pertaining to different departments, such as engineering, signal & telecommunications, mechanical, and electrical, following which instructions have been given to adhere to safety norms.

When asked about the audit reports findings on which the railway has given instructions to various departments, senior officials of railway told ETV Bharat, “Audit report is confidential which would not be shared with other persons but audit was done regarding railway tracks maintenance (but efficiency was not revealed, checked freight stocks, electrical fittings for the safety, and communication between Loco Pilots.”

Explaining about the benefits of safety audits, Navin Kumar, National President of Indian Railway S&T Maintainers’ Union, “These audits are beneficial for railway safety and alert staff to follow set norms at the workplace. The Signal & Telecommunication department follows the Signalling Engineering Manual and adheres to all norms for the safety of the passengers as well as the railways.”

Expressing similar views, Alok Chandra Prakash, General Secretary of IRSTMU, told ETV Bharat, “These audits are good, but often it has been noticed that several important issues are not covered under the audits, including manpower shortage in departments, form of panels to development, and overburden on existing staff, which should also be included under audit.”

“Sometimes audit teams find shortcomings, but they take proper action on them. However, they pass the buck to other departments, which creates pressure on other departments,” Prakash added.

In South Central Railway, Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, General Manager, has given the instruction to strictly adhere to safety protocols at Railway yards, and shunting of trains at yards.

The railway emphasized that shortcut methods should be completely avoided so as to prevent any untoward incidents.

A senior official said that East Coast Railway conducted a safety seminar led collaboratively by the Engineering and Signalling departments, focusing on key topics including critical safety protocols, proper gate operation procedures, effective emergency response strategies to ensure the safety and smooth movement of trains, and enhancing operational safety and efficiency in automatic signalling territories.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Ram Sharan, Central President of All India Loco Running Staff Association, said, “Loco pilots drive the locomotive as per rule and regulations and adhere to the norms which keep passengers, train and drivers safe.”

“In special cases, the railway gives us training to deal with the situation, which helps us to tackle that condition. If they introduce any new system, then the railway makes aware loco pilots about the newly implemented system through meetings, seminars and workshops,” Sharan explained.

Also Read

Railway Conducts Two-Day Study On Passenger Movement To Prepare Crowd Management

Railways To Run 944 Special Trains For Dussehra, Diwali, Chhath festivals