The Railway Board has introduced “Unified Subsidiary Rules” across all 17 railway zones in India to standardise procedures for station masters, loco pilots, and train managers when the automatic signalling system fails.
These rules, released on August 16, aim to address discrepancies and improve safety following a tragic accident in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, on June 17, where a goods train collided with the stationary Kanchanjunga Express, resulting in 10 fatalities.
CSR highlights need for uniform rules
The move comes after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) highlighted the need for uniform rules in a report submitted on July 11. The CRS identified varying subsidiary rules across zones as a contributing factor to the accident, leading to confusion and unsafe conditions.
“The Railway Board issued General Rules, which are like a broad framework of instructions for safe train operations to zones. Based on these GRs, the zones developed their own subsidiary rules (SRs) that vary in some cases, leading to confusion and a threat to safe train operations,” a railway safety official said.
Revising General Rules and standardising subsidiary rules
Previously, the Railway Board issued General Rules (GRs), which provided a broad framework for safe operations. However, individual zones developed their own subsidiary rules (SRs), leading to inconsistencies. The CRS recommended revising the GRs and standardising SRs to ensure uniformity and safety.
In response, the Railway Board formed a four-member committee to address these variations and create a unified set of SRs. The committee focused on General Rule 9.12, which talks about the train-operating procedure during a failure of the automatic signalling system.
These changes are designed to streamline train operations, enhance safety, and reduce confusion for railway staff.
Key recommendations of committee
- If signals are defective between stations, trains must stop for one minute during the day and two minutes at night before proceeding cautiously.
- The Senior Divisional Operations Manager (Sr DOM) or DOM (in-charge) will now determine the implications of prolonged signal failures, clarifying previously ambiguous guidelines.
- The committee has revised various paper authority letters issued to train crews for crossing defective signals. These updates address issues like the omission of speed restrictions on authority letters.
- In another key decision, the committee has revised several paper authority letters, including T/A 912, T/D 912, T/B 912, T/C 912, T/B 602, and T/510, which are issued to train crews for crossing defective signals under various conditions.
- To standardise procedures, the committee introduced a new form, T/E 912, which will be used for single-line operations in double-line territories during automatic signal failures.