New Delhi. The East Central Railway has issued an advisory to the concerned departments advising train drivers not to leave the engine unattended under any circumstances. The advisory also cited a case where the crew fixed a fault in the train on a bridge and was given a cash reward for it. The incident took place on June 20, when train number 05497 (Narkatiyaganj-Gorakhpur Express) developed some fault on a railway bridge between Valmikinagar and Paniyhava in Bihar.
Both the driver and the assistant driver got out of the train engine and walked along the edge of the bridge to the place where the fault had occurred. The fault had occurred due to the lack of air pressure (vacuum). Both of them fixed the fault in the train, after which the train moved forward. After the video of the incident was widely circulated on social media, the Divisional Railway Manager issued a written acceptance on the same day, saying that the crew showed indomitable courage to fix the problem of the fault in the engine and both were given a reward of Rs 10,000 each.
However, five days later, on June 25, the Chief Electrical Loco Engineer of East Central Railway issued an advisory to the concerned departments and instructed the loco pilots (engine drivers) to ‘strictly follow General Rule 4.61’. Under this rule, loco pilots cannot leave the engine without a driver during duty hours.
According to the advisory, sometimes if there is some problem in the train and the train stops at a place where it is not possible for the driver to reach the faulty place to fix it, then in such a situation the driver can discuss the issue with the concerned officials and call for help and another engine to solve the problem. The advisory said that all the crew members should be asked to follow this rule.