THE REAL RAILWAY MEN

As a debate rages on about the working conditions of railway loco drivers, here is a peek into their lives

- SARTHAK CHOUDHURY

A 38-year-old locomotive pilot from Mumbai has a bittersweet feeling about the festival season, starting with Raksha Bandhan next month. He is thrilled that his sister is coming over from Jabalpur, but disappointed that he will be working on the day of the festival.

"My sister's husband lost his job during Covid, so my sister had to start working. They have saved some money to be able to visit us in Mumbai and they will stay till Ganesh Chaturthi. But, like several other loco pilots, I am working on the Raksha Bandhan day," he says.

The working conditions of loco pilots came to light after the Kanchanjunga Express accident in West Bengal last month. A number of preliminary reports suggested that the accident took place because the driver, who died in the accident, ignored the signals and breached the speed limit.

Experts, however, flagged concerns, many of which are shared by a number of loco drivers Business Standard spoke to. Not many agreed to be named in this story.

Working conditions

Unlike most other people, especially those in government jobs, loco pilots do not get fixed days off. Be it a festival or a national holiday, several of them would need to report to work regardless.

"Forget festivals, we sometimes do not get leave even ifa close relative dies. More importantly, how can we get proper or regular offs if there are barely enough people to do the job," says another loco pilot.

The shortage of personnel came to the fore when Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Rajya Sabha last year that there were almost 315,000 vacant posts out of the total sanctioned strength.