ECR suspends the issuance of T/A 912 and urges drivers to exercise caution

New Delhi:The East Central Railway has instructed station masters in its area to stop issuing the notice authorising train drivers to override signals in the event of a failure of the automatic signalling system, just days after 10 people were killed in another zone when the Kanchanjunga Express collided with a goods train.

The decision to suspend the issuance of written authority for T/A 912 was taken at a safety meeting of the East Central Railway (ECR), according to a zonal circular dated June 21.

On June 17, the goods train rammed into a passenger train in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, which falls under the Northeast Frontier Railway zone. The drivers of both the trains had been issued T/A 912 as the automatic signalling at the Ranipatra Station-Chattar Hat Junction was “defective”, officials said.

While the railway administration’s initial reaction was to point out that the freight train, which has since been discontinued, was travelling too fast, the train drivers’ unions claimed that the notice did not mention any speed limit and that their member was not to blame.

The ECR circular states: “At a safety meeting between GM/ECR (General Manager/East Central Railways) and PHODs (Principal Head of Departments) and DRMs (Divisional Railway Managers), it was decided that in case of failure of automatic signal T/A 912 will not be issued until further notice.”

“In lieu of T/A 912, the provision of G&SR 9.02 for a double line will be used until further notice as described below,” it said. According to G&SR 9.02, during an automatic signal failure, train drivers will stop at each red signal for one minute during the day and two minutes at night and then continue at 15 km/h if the view ahead is clear and at 10 km/h if the view ahead is obstructed for any reason, to the next signal.

Earlier, the Eastern Railway Zone had issued a similar order on June 19, prohibiting the issue of T/A 912. However, it withdrew the order the next day. Regarding the June 17 accident, the Railway Board had said that the goods train driver should have maintained a speed of 10 km/h after stopping for one minute at each faulty signal; the locomotive unions disagreed.

Sanjay Pandhi, acting president of Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), had said, “T/A 912 is issued to override the provisions of G&SR 9.02 which requires the driver to maintain a speed of 10 kmph. T/A 912 is issued when all the tracks between two stations are clear and authorises the driver to run at the speed limit normally applicable in that section.”

The applicable normal speed of a train, also known as the posted speed, is up to 130 kmph. On the ECR circular, Pandhi said, “This ECR circular clearly shows that T/A 912 gives the driver the authority to continue at the normal speed. They have repealed it, so now G&SR 9.02 is being followed.”

He also said that the issuance of instructions and their withdrawal in different railway zones and divisions shows that the senior officials of the Railway Ministry need to come together and decide among themselves what rules they want to enforce.

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