Railway Board flags violations of continuous night duty norm for drivers

As per the board’s guidelines, “Continuous night duty for running staff should be limited to four nights with the fourth night towards the headquarters.” “However, it has been observed that railways are violating these instructions by continuing to book running staff after 4 consecutive nights due to absence of alert in CMS (Crew Management System),” the Board said in its letter dated December 26, 2024 addressed to the managing director of the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

“In CMS reports for the month of October, November and December (till date), total 1360, 1224 and 696 cases of loco pilots with five and more than five continuous night duty were recorded respectively,” the board’s letter added.

Advising CRIS to provide “alerts on crew booking console of on duty crew controller,” it suggested that if the running staff has completed three consecutive nights outstation, an alert should be given – “Three consecutive nights completed.” Similarly, the board further suggested that if the running staff has completed four consecutive nights, an alert at the headquarters should be generated upon booking the staff, “Four consecutive nights completed.” “CRIS is advised to provide the above alerts in CMS application,” the board said.

CRIS, an organisation under the Ministry of Railways, develops and maintains software for various key functional areas such as operations, freight services, ticketing and passengers among others. PTI JP JP MNK MNK