Drivers Complain Of Unhygienic Food, Dirty Rooms; Railway Board Intervenes

Bedbugs and mosquitoes can spoil anyone's sleep but they can also potentially threaten safe train operations, reveal entries made in the complaint books kept in railway running rooms, where local pilots rest after completing their outstation duties.

Acting on these complaints, which are aplenty, the Railway Board has directed all zones to promptly address them. Other common complaints were related to unhygienic food, dirty rooms, and non-functional ACs.

"I have been awake since 12.30 am because of bedbugs in Room number 10. I am feeling uncomfortable due to incomplete rest. This might harm train operations," a loco pilot and his assistant wrote in the complaint book of a running room in the Ajmer division of the North Western Railway zone on August 28.

The supervisor, in his action-taken report, wrote that he ordered a pest control and rodent service on August 31 and the issue has been resolved.

An assistant loco pilot raised a similar issue in Balharshah Running Room of Nagpur Division under Central Railway Zone, alleging that his previous complaints about bedbugs fell on deaf ears.

"The problem of bedbugs was there earlier and it still remains in room no 15, 16 or 17. Now rodents have become another problem. Instead of getting rest in running rooms, we get disturbed. If we don't get complete sleep, how will we do our duties?" the ALP wrote.

The supervisor, however, in the 'Action Taken on Complaint' column, wrote that since June 21 he hasn't received any such complaint. "We do pest control periodically," he wrote, adding, the beds were checked properly after the ALP's complaint and insecticides were sprayed.

"Ratcatcher has also been provided," the supervisor said.

Complaint books from other running rooms suggest that the bugs have infested other rail divisions as well. For instance, a running room at Kurduwadi Junction of Solapur rail division has complaints from loco pilots of bedbugs.

"Bedbugs crawl over bed no 7 of KWR (Kurduwadi Junction) running room due to which my sleep was interrupted and I had to change the bed in the middle of my sleep. Kindly resolve the issue so that other staff should not have to face such problems," a loco pilot of a mail train complained.

Besides bedbugs, lack of mosquito repellents, poor sanitation and quality of food, and non-functional ACs are some of the issues that the loco pilots often raised in the complained books.

"I couldn't sleep the whole night because of mosquitoes in a running room recently. The supervisor failed to provide mosquito repellents. If something untoward happens tomorrow while driving, people will blame the loco pilot. No one questioned the poor quality of service offered in these running rooms," a loco pilot said, sharing his plight.

According to the railway records, there are 2,136 running rooms in 16 railway zones with the Northern Railway Zone having 363 such rooms, the highest.

Officials say that running rooms at major stations are generally very well-maintained with good quality of food.

"Problems exist in other running rooms which are situated away from state capitals and at relatively smaller stations. There have been cases of fights between workers and loco pilots due to lack of proper services," a railway official associated with a running room said.

Railway officials from various zones, posted as managers to look after the services of the running rooms, say that private contractors hired for catering and maintenance work are often warned and financially penalised as well for deficient service.

"On September 2, 2024, some loco pilots complained of worms and insects in the food served to them in the running room in the Ambala division. We checked it and found the complaint genuine. The contractor was fined Rs 10,000 and warned to be careful in future," a railway official said, requesting anonymity.

In the majority of cases, loco pilots feel that the fine is too meagre for contractors to mend their ways.

A railway source from the new running room near Jhansi Railway Station said that around last week a loco pilot, who came to stay at around 1 am after finishing his train duty, found 4-5 delivery boys having liquor and meat in the dining area.

When he complained, the manager fined the people Rs 500.

"The sum of Rs 500 is negligible as compared to the earnings of the contractors. I think service contracts should be very stringent so that they don't compromise on service and food quality," the person said.

On September 3, the Railway Board issued a written direction to all railway zones, asking them to grease up the complaint redressal mechanism of the running room.

"Upkeep of running rooms and crew amenities is being closely monitored at the highest level at the railway board. It is essential that the complaint redressal mechanism is greased up for promptly addressing complaints registered by the crew," the Board's letter dated September 3 read.

It directed all headquarter officers to "call for a copy of the complaint registers to review the complaints lodged in last 100 days for at least four running rooms every week and scrutinize the quality of action and time taken by the division, so as to cover all running rooms of the zone every quarter." The headquarters office must maintain proper documentation of complaints, laxity noticed by it and action taken, it said.

"These records along with HQ officer(s) may be called by the Railway Board any time for review at the Board's level," the Board said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)