New Delhi: If things go according to plan, loco pilots and guards will no longer have to carry their personal belongings and official equipment in iron trunks and can use trolley bags instead.
In a letter to all its zones, the Railway Board asked them to provide trolley bags to the loco pilots and guards.
“Zonal Railways are requested to start implementing the policy decision of providing trolley bags to loco pilots and guards,” the Railway Board said in the letter dated July 19.
According to railway officials, the Board had initiated this move in 2006 with a comprehensive instruction. However, it remained pending for implementation for another 11 years due to stiff opposition from loco pilots and guards.
In 2018, the Board once again took a decision to push the scheme in two zones - Northern Railways and South Central Railways - for trial.
After positive feedback from the various trials, the Board issued a final order on February 21, 2022 in which it said, “Trolley bags may be provided to loco pilots and guards in lieu of line box (iron trunk). Zonal Railways may decide to procure & distribute or give allowance in lieu of trolley bags purchased by the crew themselves. The allowance to be limited to Rs 5000 for every 3 years.”
The order, besides directing departments concerned to standardise equipment in trolley bags, also asked to provide soft copies of railway rules and manuals to reduce the weight of the trolley bag. But the All India Guards Council and other stakeholders concerned challenged this order at various legal fora, including Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) Principal Bench at New Delhi, forcing the railways to put it on hold.
“Whenever a loco pilot (train driver) or a guard (officially called train manager) signs on for train duty, he keeps an iron trunk weighing over 20 kg to the engine/guard cabin as it carries railway norms, various equipment as well as his personal belongings,” a railway official said. “To carry the heavy iron trunk, they are provided with a porter who takes the box to their respective cabins,” the official added.