The first journey of the air-conditioned double-decker train from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) to Goa turned to be a damp squib as it was halted for an hour at the Roha railway station after no replacement for the locopilot was arranged on time. Train 02005 holiday special left LTT at 5.30 am and was scheduled to halt at Thane, Panvel, Chiplun, Ratnagiri and Karmali. An additional operational halt was provided at Roha between 8.20 am and 8.25 am for change of crew, in line with a recent notification of the CR on August 14. At 8.20 am, the holiday special train ferrying around 500 passengers halted at the Roha station. However, the five-minute operational halt continued till 9.40 am as no replacement for locopilot was provided by railway authorities. Since the train was running through Central Railway (CR) and Konkan Railway (KR), a confusion over the provision of train crew resulted in the delay. During the operational halt, the CR train crew, comprising locopilot, assistant locopilot and guard, were to be replaced by a KR crew. According to senior CR officers, while replacement for a guard and assistant locopilot were present, a locopilot was not available. KR officers claimed that the locopilot refused to continue the journey despite the 10-hour working rule. Since Roha is just three hours from LTT, KR officers maintained that he was duty-bound to bring the train up to Ratnagiri, which is eight hours from LTT. “A replacement of the locopilot was to be provided at Ratnagiri,” said a KR officer. Following the incident, action has been initiated against locopilot B P Singh. Senior officers said he was following rules.”KR authorities were informed about the notification and the change of crew prior to the train undertaking its first journey. If the crew was not required to be changed, as claimed by KR, why would the CR halt the train at Roha,” said a CR officer, who did not wish to be named. priyal.dave@expressindia.com
