New Delhi, April 9 The Railway Board has directed all its zones to ensure that only station masters are authorized to allow a train to enter a track after verification in cases where the wheel-sensing system incorrectly identifies the track as occupied.
Occasionally, due to technical faults, the wheel-sensing machine (called the axle counter) may mistakenly show that a track is occupied when it is actually clear.
In such situations, safety protocols require that only a station master or an assistant station master manually confirm the track's status and reset the axle counter – in case of a fault – before allowing another train to proceed.
However, recent instances have revealed violations of this protocol, where station masters have verbally delegated this responsibility to signal maintainers or engineers, according to the Board. In some cases, when incidents occurred, responsibility was shifted onto signal staff, raising concerns about accountability and adherence to safety norms.
Referring to one such violation that came to its notice, the Railway Board said, "In a recent case, it has been observed that the defined protocol was not followed. Such deviations can lead to unsafe train operations."
"As per codal provisions, all manual reset of axle counters are to be initiated only by the ASMs (assistant station masters) on duty after following the due procedure," the Board's direction, addressed to general managers of all railway zones, said.
It has further reiterated the prescribed procedures to address failures of the wheel-sensing machine both within station limits and in sections between two stations.
The Board said that if the wheel-sensing machine fails within the station section, the concerned assistant station master must check the Last Vehicle Box (LVB) device, which is installed close to the track and provides real-time status of whether the track is free or occupied.
However, if the failure occurs between two stations, the Board said that the ASMs of the dispatching and receiving stations must coordinate with each other to ensure that the track on which the train is to be routed is free of any traffic or obstruction.
The Indian Railways Signal and Telecom Maintainers' Union (IRSTMU) has welcomed the Board's direction, calling it a major relief for signal staff.
Alok Chandra Prakash, general secretary of IRSTMU, said, "I wholeheartedly welcome the Board’s direction for compliance with existing norms. There have been several cases in which signal staff have been punished due to dereliction of duties by station masters."
Prakash said that assistant station masters often request signal staff to reset the axle counter without verifying the track status.
"The signal staff rely on the station master's version and reset the axle counter, which can result in two trains entering the same track. There have been several such cases. In one recent case of a similar nature, two signal staff were removed from service in Visakhapatnam," Prakash said.