Standardise loco pilots’ training for working in automatic signalling area Railway Board to zones

New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) The Railway Board has asked all its zones to bring uniformity in training regimes of loco pilots for working in an automatic signalling territory.
     The need for standardization has been felt after recent train accidents in which signal failure in automatic signalling territory emerged as one of the reasons, according to experts.
     “Different zonal railways have been following different training regimes of running staff for working in automatic signalling territory. In order to standardize, zonal railways are advised to follow the training regime as enclosed,” the board said in a circular dated July 13.
     The circular has various instructions under the subject 'Training regime standardisation for automatic signalling'.
     The Railway Board has suggested that the chief loco inspector (CLI) should hold one-day intensive counselling of loco pilots and their assistant regarding automatic signalling system every six months and this should be followed by a competency test with multiple choice questions.
     According to the board, during the intensive counselling, the issues that should be stressed upon are 'system of working in automatic signalling territory', 'all relevant forms issued during abnormal working in automatic section with prescribed speed restrictions', and 'animated videos will be developed on the mistakes usually committed by crew'.
     The board has also instructed that whenever intimation is received for the introduction of new automatic signalling territory, the CLI will hold a two-day training of all loco pilots (LPs) and assistant loco pilots (ALPs) and issue a competency certificate to work in automatic section.
     “Further, after commissioning of new automatic territory, intensive counselling of all LPs/ALPs every two months in the first year of introduction should be ensured. After that periodicity of every six months shall be introduced,” the circular said.
     Besides intensive counselling of LPs and ALPs, the board has also recommended a training programme for CLIs in Zonal Railway Training Institute (ZRTI) for three days every three years.
     “An existing module of two days for CLI at IRISET (Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering & Telecommunication) is re-designed for three days for imparting training on automatic signalling,” the board said.
     It added that provisions for MCQ test for awarding competency certificate have already been made on Indian Railways’ official app for crew and CLI known as 'Chalak Dal' app as well as the content management system.
     According to the board, the CLI can use this provision for testing of staff after one-day intensive training and the crew can also use it for self-testing every two months which will help CLIs to assess their weak areas.
     "I think it is a good move to keep the crew updated with the safety norms and various authority forms that are issued to them during signal failure. Many train drivers forget these norms because they don't face situations like signal failure for a long time. Such training regime will help in safe train operations," a retired senior rail safety official said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)