Stress management for railway safety

 Monday’s tragic train accident near New Jalpaiguri railway station has revived the demand for expediting the deployment of the automatic train protection system (Kavach) on the Indian railway network. Kavach automatically applies the brake of a locomotive if two trains travel on the same track and the train driver or loco pilot fails to apply the brake, thus averting a collision. The Kavach system is not yet operational on the route on which the collision between the Agartala Kanchenjungha Express and a goods train running on the same track occurred. The highly technologically intensive safety system is currently operated only on about 1,500 km of the 68,000 km-long railway network. Apart from the high cost of installation, limited capacity of production is a key constraint in expediting Kavach deployment in the entire railway network. Railway safety in the country will have to depend on the alertness of train drivers/loco pilots and the existing signalling system until an automatic train protection system becomes available for every passenger train, every goods train, and along the entire railway track. The Railway Ministry hopes to increase the length of the railway track under Kavach to 5000 km by 2026, but it will require manufacturers of this indigenous technology to scale up production capacity. The figures are indicative of the pace at which the entire railway network can be covered at the current capacity of manufacturing and the resources available for the production of Kavach. Various studies conducted by different railways attribute the train mishaps to human error by loco pilots or train drivers or signalling failure. Some of the human errors are attributed to momentary loss of concentration, lack of alertness, judgement error, or overconfidence of loco pilots, which led to a train passing a glowing red light requiring the train to stop. Indian Railway reports on an average of 50 incidents of trains passing signals ignoring stop signs, thus putting train passengers and properties at collision risk. Ensuring that the train drivers strictly follow the line-side signals and remain alert every moment of the journey is critical to reducing accident risk and making train journeys safer. Foggy conditions add to the challenges of safe driving, and trains are required to slow down when visibility falls, which adds to traffic congestion on train routes gripped by heavy fog during the winter. Kavach helps trains running on the same track maintain a safe distance, which allows the drivers to run at a higher speed even in foggy conditions. This is not the case on tracks without such an automatic train protection system. Studies carried out by railway authorities also found that due to tremendous stress, loco pilots suffer from cognitive issues, which also affect their alertness. Increases in stress levels are traced to the work environment, pressure to achieve the announced time schedule, the sheer responsibility of thousands of passengers travelling by train or delivering high-value goods on time, as well as family roblems. The Ministry of Labour constituted a high-power committee to workout modalities to provide defined time intervals for food and attend calls of nature while on duty for the loco running staff. This has been a long-standing demand of the association representing loco-running staff. The first meeting of the committee was held in April, and the committee is mandated to submit its report in one year’s time. It is hoped that the committee’s recommendations will address a key problem faced by loco running staff, which has added to their stress level. Filling up vacancies of train running staff is crucial to reduce pressure on existing staff, and, therefore, recruitment in railways must be prioritised to prevent any shortage of more than the required strength. As retirement dates are known beforehand, recruitment schedules also need to be drawn in such a manner that newly recruited staff can complete their training in time so that they can shoulder the responsibility of train running the very next day of the retirement of existing staff members. Railway network length is expanding at a faster pace, and adding more trains on the tracks across the country demands that loco running staff remain at the optimal level to ensure adequate rest hours and keep them free from worries of any undue pressure to meet targets of faster running of trains to stick to the timetable. For passengers, trains running on time are critical to their journey satisfaction. At the same time, the safety of the journey remains crucial to boosting confidence among passengers to prefer train journeys as a preferred mode of transport. While efforts must be made for a faster transition to an automatic train accident prevention system, focusing on raising the alertness of loco-running staff through reducing their stress and improving the existing signal system is of paramount importance. Indian railways running more trains at a faster pace are crucial for the faster growth and progress of the country, but railway safety must remain the topmost priority.