Parliament Question: Irregularities in South Central Railways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1734 ANSWERED ON 13.02.2026 IRREGULARITIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAYS 1734 SHRI GOLLA BABURAO: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether investigation by South Central Railways uncovered serious irregularities, including crew lobby officials, forcing goods train loco pilots to work 13-14 hours continuously a day and making them feed incorrect work time in records across divisions, if so, response of Ministry and the Railway Board; (b) whether out of 620 goods loco pilots working for 14 hours, 545 loco pilots are only from Secunderabad Divison; (c) whether Railway rules say loco pilot cannot be asked to work for more than 11 hours at a stretch; and (d) the steps taken by Ministry to stop loco pilots from working for 13-14 hours a day? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): Loco Pilots are important members of Indian Railway family who play pivotal role for moving passenger and goods traffic in safe and efficient manner. Indian Railways is committed to ensure proper working conditions for loco pilots. Loco Pilots are classified under continuous category. As per Section 132 (2) of Railway Act, 1989, Duty hours of Loco Pilots are governed by Hours of Employment Rules (HOER) issued under Railway Act, 1989, according to which loco running staff are required to work 104 hours in a fortnight. Rule 8 of “Hours of Work and Period of Rest” (HOER), 2005 lays down the guidelines of duty hours of 52 hours per week on an average in a two-weekly period of fourteen days for Loco Pilots i.e., duty hours are less than maximum hours of 54 for other ‘Continuous’ category employees on Indian Railways. The running hours of Loco Pilots are meticulously monitored. The running hours are maintained, except for exigencies. §For improvement of working conditions of loco running staff, several measures have been taken such as:  All running rooms have been air-conditioned.  Running staff are provided with Yoga and meditation room, reading room with newspaper and magazines for relaxing in accordance with their requirements.  Provision for subsidized meals in running rooms.  Availability of RO water filters in running rooms.  Various safety drives & special counselling programs are regularly organized for checking the alertness and safety awareness among the running staff. Special safety seminars & meetings are also organized for interaction with family members of running staff for educating on role of quality rest in life of running staff.  Special drives are launched regularly to counsel running staff to boost their morale and confidence. ***** §