Behind the Engine: The Loco Pilots’ Desperate Battle for Dignity and Onboard Toilets

(Indian Loco Pilots, responsible for the lives of 2000+ passengers in each train, despite being crucial for Indian Railways’ operations and safety, face health issues due to long hours, lack of toilets, and rest.)

Unsung Heroes

Train journeys, with their massive engines and the thrill of travel, have always fascinated people of all ages. However, few are aware of the challenges faced by the engine drivers, or Loco Pilots, who ensure our safe travel, often at the expense of their health. It may come as a surprise to many that these Loco Pilots lack even basic amenities, such as facilities to answer nature’s call while on duty. This forces them to suppress their needs for hours, leading to various health issues. The struggles faced by female Loco Pilots, especially during their menstrual cycles, are indescribable. Regrettably, the grievances of these unsung heroes and heroines often fall on deaf ears of the Railway Administration.

Indian Railways at a Glance

Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks in the world, with a route length of over 68,426 km. It operates about 22,593 trains daily, which includes 13,452 passenger trains and 9,141 goods trains. These trains cover around 7,325 stations in the country. The Indian Railways carries more than 24 million passengers daily and transports 3 million metric tonnes of goods. They maintain a fleet of over 14,800 locomotives, which includes both electric and diesel locomotives.

The railway network is managed by more than 1.2 million employees, making it the biggest employer in our nation. This mind-boggling operation of the Railways depends on nearly 96,000 Loco Pilots (Engine drivers), who remain as unsung heroes, braving all challenges and hardships.

Long Working Hours, Lack of Toilet Facilities

For writing this editorial, PreSense spoke to many current and retired Loco Pilots, including women Loco Pilots and Trade Union Leaders. Though we get excited over the gigantic engines and coaches, the personal lives of Loco Pilots are highly challenging. The Ministers and the Board do not give importance to their grievances, which borders on human rights violations.

Though as per the norms, their working hours are limited to 10 hours, they are often forced to work up to 14 or 16 hours without rest, citing staff shortages. Nowadays, the Indian Railways have introduced a large number of Express and Superfast trains like Vande Bharat, Shatabdi, Tejas, etc. They have to run at a speed of 130 Km per hour in a majority of sections. That means on average, the Engine is crossing one signal post (kept at every Km) every 28 or 29 seconds. The Loco Pilots have to be alert always during their duty time watching the signal. Crossing the danger signal may lead to an accident at that speed. Loco Pilots are issued notices when they cross the red signal, attracting punishment.

Besides, these Loco Pilots, including women pilots, have no washroom (toilet) facility in their engine cabin. They are unable to attend nature’s call when the train is running continuously at high speed for long hours.

“The Loco Pilots should not be given night duties for more than two consecutive days. Unfortunately, due to shortage of pilots, they are asked to run for four or five consecutive nights. They do not get adequate rest. They are away from home on duty for several days. This leads to various health issues like varicose veins, kidney problems, etc.,” says R. Elangovan, Former Vice President of Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU) and presently, the President of Dakshin Railway Pensioners Union. He also cited the example of a Loco Pilot, who had a 22 mm kidney stone removed through surgery. The Doctors informed the patient that holding the urine for such a long time without discharge may create more kidney problems.

Generally, all employees avail a weekly holiday or rest. But Loco Pilots in Indian Railways have only ‘Periodical Rests’ once in 7 to 10 days. According to Elangovan, they can avail 30 hours of rest for 4 times or 22 hours of rest for 5 times in a month to stay with their family. This is the only time they are with the family. Elangovan adds, “While Western countries give 36 hours of work per week for the Loco Pilots, Indian Railways extract a minimum of 54 hours of work per week, leading to physical and mental strain and health issues. This inadequate sleep gets accumulated, resulting in ‘sleep debt’ and ‘microsleep’ (dosing for a few seconds) causing more health and safety issues.”

In 1973, there was a nationwide strike by loco-running staff under the banner of All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) demanding 8 hours of duty. On August 14, 1973, the then Railway Minister announced on the floor of Parliament that Members of Loco Running Staff would not be required to work for more than 10 hours at a stretch from ‘Sign On to Sign Off’. Even after the completion of the 50th anniversary of the announcement, in 2024, the agreement remains dishonoured. Even the present rule of 11/12 hours is not implemented and in practice, Loco Pilots are being forced to work more than 14 hours at a stretch.

Way back in Sep 2004, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways chaired by Basudev Acharya MP, recommended that more than 8 hours of duty at a stretch should not be extracted from the Loco Running Staff. Even after 20 years, no action has been taken by the successive Governments.

A High Power Committee set up in 2013 by the Indian Railways recommended that the Running Staff should be given a periodical rest of 16 hours + 24 hours (Calendar day) i.e. 40 hours 4 times in a month. Unfortunately, the Railway Board has not issued any circular to date to implement this recommendation.

Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD)

Sometimes loco pilots jump the ‘danger signal’ due to physical and mental strain and fatigue. This is known as SPAD (Signal Passing at Danger). Accidents happen due to this SPAD. The Task Force set up in 2017 found that the majority of such SPAD incidents in the Railways happened after ‘home rest’ at the residence of the loco pilot. “This is because quality rest is missing during such long home station rest as the loco pilot is preoccupied with attending to personal and family matters,” the Task Force observed. Elangovan says that only because of the refusal of eligible leave, these loco pilots are forced to use ‘home rest’ periods for their domestic work.

Another important issue is the refusal of eligible leave to loco pilots, citing shortage of manpower. According to K. Parthasarathy, Joint General Secretary, All India Loco Running Staff Association, Southern Zone, as against the sanctioned strength of 1,28,793 Loco Pilots and Assistant Loco Pilots, there is a vacancy of 16,373 as of the end of December 2023, amounting to a staggering 13% vacancy.

Acceptance by Authorities

The Chairman of the Railway Board, deposing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways in December 2016, which examined the issues of railway safety and security, stated there were 17,016 vacancies for loco pilots and Assistant Loco Pilots. It may be noted that the Indian Railways continues to maintain the same level of vacancies even after 7 years.

“Generally, they should maintain around 30% of the strength for leave reserve and change of duties. Indian Railways never maintains the leave reserve. Instead, they refuse ‘leave’ to the pilots and extend their working hours, without realising that it has safety implications as well as human rights violations. The Chairman of the Railway Board himself has admitted before the Parliamentary Committee that with these vacancies, they were not sanctioning the leave to the extent that people would have desired.” Elangovan added.

Railway Accident Enquiry Commission headed by  Justice  Venkatachalaiah -1995 and Railway Safety Review Committee headed by Justice H.R. Khanna -1998 have recommended a comfortable cab seat, ergonomic design of Loco cabin and better working conditions for Loco Pilots.

Moreover, Railway Board Circular No RBE 04/2004 admits the hardships of the Loco Pilots. “The element of stress combined with uncertain hours of work entailed in the performance of running duties over a long period tend to have a deleterious psychosomatic effect on their health. There is  slowing down reflexes with the passage of time making them vulnerable to operational lapses.”

The High Power Committee set up in 2013 observed, “The noise level inside the cab is also as high as 88.4 decibels as against the limit of 90 decibels laid down by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulations which says that if anyone is exposed to this noise level for more than 08 hours per day, there is a risk of hearing loss for him. The instruments, operating levers and other equipment inside the cab are also not ergonomically designed. All these features aggravate the stress of working and enhance the fatigue levels.”

Since the Loco Pilots are working in high-stress conditions, many of them are getting medically de-categorised before the superannuation age. It means as per railway medical standards Loco Pilots should fit in the A-1 category which is the highest medical standard. “During the periodical mandatory medical examination, many of them get de-categorised to B1, B2 or C1 and they are moved to those jobs that can fit in that category. This is also the main reason for the shortage of pilots. The de-categorisation happens in large numbers due to poor working conditions of the Loco Pilots,” says Parthasarathy.

Parthasarathy adds that recently the Railway Ministry replied to an RTI activist that they have built 120 toilets in the new locomotives. He also adds that he has not seen any one of them running.

“While presenting the Railway Budget in 2016, then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu openly admitted in the Parliament about the plight of Loco Pilots and assured that toilet facilities would be provided in engines. To date, I have not seen any new design for engines with a toilet or any budget allocation. “ Elangovan adds.

One more new committee – Delaying Justice

Though there were agreements, announcements and several Committee Reports in the past that identified the problems of Loco Pilots and advised the Railway Board to implement solutions, the Ministry of Labour has set up another High Power Committee on April 18, 2024 (when we are writing this article), to implement ILO Convention C001 Article 8 for providing time intervals for food and for attending calls of nature. They have given one year time for this High Power Committee to submit its report. Ironically, this Committee was set up after a delay of four years after a petition raising industrial dispute by trade unions in 2020.  The decision that could have been made within a week, is now allowed to drag on for years, at the cost of the safety of the passengers. Strangely, if a Private company had not provided a ‘time interval for food and for attending calls of nature’, to their employees, the owner would have been prosecuted and jailed. 

“When I was in the Rajya Sabha, I discussed the hardships of loco pilots with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and also spoke in the Parliament. These bureaucrats, sitting in comfortable air-conditioned rooms with attached toilets, taking food in time and enjoying the royal saloon facilities, continuing from the British days, do not understand the difficulties of the engine drivers running for long working hours without toilet facilities and timely food, in a bad working condition. They will only realise when they travel in the engine continuously for 3 to 4 hours. The Railway Authorities should realise that they are playing with the safety of lakhs of passengers travelling in train daily, by not improving the working conditions of loco pilots,” says T K Rangarajan, a former Rajya Sabha MP for 12 years, with great pain and sorrow.

Possible Solutions

As we are writing this Editorial, the Ministry of Railways has issued a circular on March 21, 2024, to explore the possibilities of providing waterless urinals in Electric Locomotives. Though it is a positive step with a ‘ray of hope’, its implementation is to be watched.

The main grievances of the Loco Pilots are (1) lack of toilet facilities during running time leading to health issues, (2) long working hours beyond the stipulated time, (3) lack of sufficient rest leading to fatigue, sleep debt and microsleep (4) high noise level in the Cabin, (5) huge accumulated vacancies for years without recruitment and (6) refusal of leave facilities quoting shortage leading to denial of opportunities to attend to domestic responsibilities and commitments, etc.

The working conditions of the loco pilots have to be improved without violating human rights. The All India Loco Running Staff Association has been demanding for a long time to provide a toilet facility at the important stations at the designated engine stops. This would enable the loco pilots to use the toilet quickly while the passengers are boarding, temporarily resolving the issue.

Addressing the concerns of our loco pilots is not just a matter of employee satisfaction, but a critical factor in ensuring the safety of the countless passengers who entrust their lives to the Indian Railways each day. The safety of every passenger is intrinsically tied to the well-being of our loco pilots.

The persistent vacancies in the loco pilot cadre, left unfilled by the Indian Railways, result in our pilots being stretched beyond their limits, often at the expense of their health both physically and mentally. This is not just an issue of workforce management, but a ticking time bomb that could compromise the safety of our passengers.

The Indian Railways, as one of the largest employers in the world, should set an example by prioritising the comfort, rest, and well-being of its loco pilots, instead of appointing committee after committee to delay justice. These are the individuals who bear the immense responsibility of safely transporting more than 2000 passengers at a time. It's high time we recognise their invaluable silent contribution and treat their grievances with the urgency and importance they deserve.

PreSense hopes that Narendra Modi, when he assumes office as Prime Minister for the third time, will address this issue in the first 100 days.

Source: This was the cover story published in April 2024 edition of PreSense