Railway Board directs CRIS to set up alerts for night duty violations
The Railway Board has instructed the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) to develop and implement an alert system to notify crew controllers about any violations of continuous night duties for running staff, such as loco pilots.
As per the board’s guidelines, running staff should not be assigned more than four consecutive nights of night duty, with the fourth night designated for duties at the headquarters.
However, it has been observed that railways have been breaching this rule by scheduling staff for more than four nights in a row, mainly due to the absence of alerts in the Crew Management System (CMS).
This concern was highlighted in a letter from the board, dated December 26, 2024, addressed to CRIS’s managing director.
Reports from CMS for the months of October, November, and December (up to the present) reveal that 1,360, 1,224, and 696 instances, respectively, involved loco pilots being scheduled for five or more consecutive nights of duty.
The board has now recommended that CRIS integrate alerts into the crew booking console, which would notify crew controllers when a staff member has completed three consecutive nights of outstation duty, with a message reading, “Three consecutive nights completed.” Additionally, if running staff reach four successive nights, the system should trigger an alert at the headquarters with the message, “Four consecutive nights completed.”
CRIS has been directed to incorporate these alerts into the CMS application to ensure compliance with the guidelines.
CRIS, a body under the Ministry of Railways, is responsible for creating and maintaining software for various crucial railway operations, including freight services, ticketing, passenger services, and more.
