New Delhi, (PTI) Train drivers’ maximum working hours should not exceed 12 hours, subject to severe operational exigencies, the Railway Board said, while issuing consolidated guidelines to all the zones on Thursday regarding the duty hours of the running staff, including drivers and guards.
The new instruction, a compilation of the board’s various previous guidelines, aims at reminding zones to take care of the working and rest hours of the running staff to enhance operational safety. However, the drivers’ association, the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), has alleged there are riders in these instructions, which take away their right to proper rest and there is no provision for a lunch break during work.
One of the instructions of the board states the maximum working hours of a driver in one trip should not exceed 12 hours, however, another instruction asks them to work beyond the limits in case of operational exigencies, the association said. “Running duty at a stretch should not ordinarily exceed nine hours. Such duty may extend further provided the railway administration gives at least two hours notice before the expiry of nine hours to the crew that they would be required to perform running duty beyond nine hours, with the stipulation that total duty from ‘sign on’ to ‘sign off’ shall not exceed 11 hours,” one of the instructions, accessed by PTI, says.
