Condemn the callous attitude of the Indian Railway administration to safety of its workers and passengers!

A report by KEC correspondent

An incident in South Eastern Railway, once again highlighted callous attitude of Indian Railway administration towards safety of rail workers and passengers.

It is learnt that the Railway Board issued a letter dated 4^th April 2025 which recommended provision of an Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) only in MEMUs operating for distance exceeding 200 kms. or more. MEMU stands for Mainline Electric Multiple Unit, which means that the power source is electricity.

The logic of specifying the minimum distance for running a train with two loco pilots (LP+ALP) is beyond comprehension. Is it that if a MEMU operates for distance of 190 kms then it is safe to operate it with one LP only? Then what can be the justification to exclude MEMUs operating for less than 200 kms from the regulation issued by the Railway Board? Only one justification can be – “save money and reduce workforce of railways even if it means endangering railway worker and passenger safety”.

The completely illogical aspect of Railway Board’s letter dated 4^th April 2025 got exposed when on 4^th November 2025, a MEMU train collided with the rear of a standing freight train in the BSP division of South East Central Railway. From the letter dated 16^th March 2026 (attached) it appears that after considering the gravity of the above mentioned accident, the Railway Board advised to provide ALPs in all MEMU trains irrespective of the distance and working hours.

In spite of this incident and subsequent directive by Railway Board as mentioned in the attached letter, this directive has not yet been implemented in all other divisions of the Indian Railways.

The Indian Railways is the property created by sweat and labour of and money collected from working people of India to serve its people. Can we, the users of Indian Railways accept this absolutely callous attitude of the Indian Railway administration towards our safety?

The Government of India and various enterprises under its administration behave just like a profit hungry capitalist: minimise the cost to the maximum extent possible even if it means sacrificing safety of India’s working people is the attitude it exhibits in all its actions. This attitude will not change unless, we the working people of India take control of all aspects of governance!