The Chennai Division of Southern Railway has announced a 15-day safety drive to be strictly followed by loco pilots (LPs) and assistant loco pilots (ALPs) to avert Signal Passed At Danger (SPAD) incidents, which occurs when a train moves past a red signal without proper authorisation.

This safety drive comes in the wake of the suspension of the loco pilots and assistant loco pilots of the Yelagiri Express for signal jumping on July 6.

The Yelagiri Express, which departed from Dr. MGR Central Railway Station, halted at Avadi after loco pilot P.S. Rao complained of health issues. However, an inquiry revealed that he had jumped a red signal near Vyasarpadi Railway Station, and had resorted to health issues to avoid penal action.The suspension is based on a preliminary inquiry, even as the main inquiry is yet to be concluded.

Based on this incident and a few previous ones, the Chennai Division announced that a safety drive would be held till July 24 for all loco and assistant loco drivers.

A senior loco pilot said all the loco pilots were being punished for the mistakes of a few crew members. He said that though they welcomed the safety procedures, the loco pilots were under severe work pressure due to a large number of vacancies, which remained unfilled for several years. The work pressure involves running the mail and express trains on time, as the loco staff would otherwise be penalised in the name of punctuality.

Another loco pilot said facilities such as running rooms had been modernised and that they did not have any grievances on that front. However, inadequate rest and poor sanctioning of leaves were detrimental to the morale of the LPs and ALPs. Though they were provided with more leave reserves and rest compared to other railway staff, the provisions were only on paper and not in actual practice, sources said.

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions had said in a memorandum that around three lakh posts were lying vacant in the Railways, which had increased the workload for existing employees. Instead of filling up the posts, Railways had decided to surrender various posts in different departments.

In the Loco Running Category itself, around one third of the posts, which is around 39,000, are vacant. As a result, the existing loco running staff are forced to work 14 hours a day at a stretch.

Additionally, there are a significant number of vacancies in the Chief Loco Inspector (CLI) posts. CLIs are under pressure to force the loco running staff to work long hours, and are subjected to punitive measures if they fail to do so.

Published - July 17, 2026 12:47 am IST