Working conditions of Loco Pilots – Working hours, Rest and Leave Policy

Working conditions of Loco Pilots – Working hours, Rest and Leave Policy with details of vacancies: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1784 answered on 30.07.2025

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1784
TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025

WORKING CONDITIONS OF LOCO PILOTS

1784. MS SAYANI GHOSH:
SMT. KANIMOZHI KARUNANIDHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether there are any fixed working hours and leave policy for the loco pilots, if so, the details thereof including total working hours in a day/a week, any breaks and attending nature’s call etc.;

(b) whether it is a fact that the Government has rejected a long-pending demand of loco pilots to provide a break for having meals and attending nature’s call while on duty, given the increasing major train accidents where human error was often attributed as the reason, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government is considering mandatory deployment of two loco pilots or assistant pilots for long-distance or high-speed routes to reduce stress and ensure safety, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government is aware of the grievances of loco pilots that they are not given the mandated 16 hours of headquarters rest and 30 hours of periodic rest properly and if so, the details thereof;

(e) the measures taken by the Government to ensure that the loco pilots and assistant loco pilots are provided adequate rests; and

(f) the details regarding the number of vacancies of loco pilots and assistant loco pilots in the railways at present and the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f) 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. Section 132 (2) of Railway Act,1989, prescribes duty hours of 54 hours per week on an average in a two-weekly period of fourteen days for staff working under Continuous category.

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 twoweekly 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 Railway Services (Liberalised Leave) Rules, 1949, which govern the provisions for leave entitlements of railway employees specify types of leave such as Leave on Average Pay (LAP), Leave on Half Average Pay(LHAP), Commuted Leave, Extraordinary Leave (EOL), etc. and the same are applicable to all Railway Servants including the Loco Pilots.

Loco Pilots are given Head Quarter rest, Out Station Rest and Periodic Rest as under:

Head Quarter Rest – Head Quarter rest of 16 hours is given after a running staff member reaches their Head Quarter, and periodic rest of 30 hours or 22 hours (as and when due) is provided as per Section 133 of the Railway Act, 1989. Since periodic rest is also a Head Quarter rest, the requirement for 16 hours Head Quarter rest is fulfilled during periodic rest.

Out Station Rest – Out station rest is also given when a loco pilot completes his outward journey and it is as under: –

Periodic Rest– Section 133 of Railway Act,1989 and Rule 12 of HOER, 2005 lays down the guidelines for Periodical rest of Running staff. These stipulates that running staff be granted, each month, a rest of at least five periods of not less than twenty-two consecutive hours each, or a rest of at least four periods of not less than thirty consecutive hours each including a full night.

The running hours of Loco Pilots are meticulously monitored. Except for exigencies, the running hours are maintained.

For improvement of working conditions of loco running crew, ergonomic crew friendly design features like better seat and driver desks for better comfort of loco pilots has been provided and all new locos are provided with air-conditioned cabs. Furthermore, running rooms have been equipped with air-conditioning and are provided with facilities such as subsidized meals, foot massagers, and RO water filters for the comfort of the running staff. As regards provision of break for meals and attending to nature’s call, the same is already inbuilt in the system for Freight and Passenger Loco pilots.

Presently recruitment of 1.08 lakh vacancies has been taken up on Indian Railways. Details are as under:

During January to December 2024, ten Centralized Employment Notifications (CENs) for 92116 vacancies have been notified for filling up of posts of Assistant Loco Pilots (ALPs), Technicians, Sub-Inspectors, Constables in Railway Protection Force (RPF), Junior Engineers (JEs)/ Depot Material Superintendent (DMS)/ Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA), Paramedical Categories, Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate), Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate), Ministerial & Isolated Categories and Level-1.

First stage Computer Based Tests (CBTs) for 55197 posts have been completed in four phases. Details are as under-

Results of CBTs for the posts of ALP (1st stage), RPF-SI and Constable, JE/DMS/CMA (1st Stage) and Technicians have already been published. 2nd stage CBTs for the posts of ALP and JE/DMS/CMA have also been completed. Details are as under: –

Results for 2nd stage CBTs of ALP & JE/DMS/CMA have also been published.

Out of 14,298 vacancies of Technicians notified in 2024, panels of more than 9,000 selected candidates have already been provided by the RRBs.

In addition, as per Annual Calendar for the year 2025, following two Centralized Employment Notifications have also been issued: –

1. Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) No. 01/2025, for 9,970 vacancies of ALPs has also been notified in March 2025.
2. Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) No. 02/2025, for 6,238 vacancies of Technician has been notified in June 2025.

Occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process on Indian Railways considering its size, spatial distribution and criticality of operation. Adequate and suitable manpower is provided to cater to the regular operations, changes in technology, mechanizations and innovative practices. The vacancies are filled up primarily by placement of indents by Railways with Recruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements.

The RRB examinations are quite technical in nature entailing large scale mobilization of men and resources and training of manpower. Railway overcame all these challenges and successfully conducted the recruitment in a transparent manner following all laid down guidelines. No instance of paper leakage or similar malpractice has occurred during the entire process.

Recruitment done in Indian Railways during 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 vis-àvis during 2014-2015 to 2024-2025 is given as under: –

Further, as a system improvement, the Ministry of Railways has introduced a system of publishing annual calendar from 2024 for recruitment to various categories of Group ‘C’ posts. The introduction of annual calendar will benefit the aspirants in the following manner:

• More opportunities for candidates;
• Opportunities to those becoming eligible every year;
• Certainty of exams;
• Faster Recruitment process, Training and Appointments.

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