Railway Mismanagement: No Loco Pilots to Run Trains in India

New Delhi: Indian Railways is facing a severe crisis due to the acute shortage of loco pilots. Instead of addressing the issue through urgent recruitment, the Railway Board has shockingly moved towards appointing retired drivers on daily wages, effectively paving the way for contractualisation of train operations.

Recruitment for loco pilots was last initiated in 2018. Only in January 2024, after six years of inaction, did the authorities invite applications, and that too for a meagre 5,699 posts. Continuous struggles by the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) forced an increase to 18,799 vacancies in June 2024. With 2025 vacancies included, the total stands at 28,769. Yet, the recruitment process has dragged on for 20 months, leaving safety at risk and insulting the millions of unemployed youth.

Every year, more than 4,000 loco pilots retire. With over 50,000 employees leaving annually, the railway workforce has shrunk by 2.5 lakh in five years. Today, more than 3 lakh posts remain vacant. This reckless downsizing follows the Debroy Committee’s recommendation to reduce permanent staff.

Currently, 33,174 loco running posts, over 23%, lie vacant across 16 zones, with some zones facing shortages as high as 40 – 45%. As a result, loco pilots are denied weekly rest, forced to work long hours under pressure, and punished harshly for unavoidable lapses. Former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, himself a former airline pilot, has acknowledged that driving a train is harder than flying an aircraft. Yet, instead of supporting loco pilots, Railways misuses cab data to criminalise them.

The Railway Board’s order dated August 18 permitting reappointment of retired loco pilots on daily wages has sparked outrage. Even the Railway Safety Commissioner has warned against contract staff handling safety- sensitive systems, but authorities are deliberately undermining safety.

The 2012 High -Level Safety Review Committee, along with experts like Anil Kakodkar and E Sreedharan, had clearly recommended that vacancies in safety categories must never be left unfilled. Despite this, over 35,000 loco pilot posts and 3 lakh permanent posts across departments remain vacant. For six years, even vacancy data for loco pilots was not reported, and no official has been held accountable.

Zone-wise figures reveal the alarming scale of the crisis. In Southern Railway alone, 1,288 out of 5,848 loco running posts remain vacant (22%). Vacancies include Thiruvananthapuram – 134, Palakkad – 149, Salem – 195, Madurai – 149, Tiruchirappalli – 159, and Chennai – 521. Other zones show even higher shortages: South Western Railway (SWR) – 1,600, South Eastern Railway (SER) – 5,163, Eastern Railway (ER) – 2,875, South Central Railway (SCR) – 3,442, Western Railway (WR) – 2,200, South East Central Railway (SECR) – 4,500, South Coast Railway (SCoR) – 3,000, Central Railway (CR) – 2,000. In most zones, vacancies exceed 25%.

AILRSA demands immediate withdrawal of the order allowing contract appointments of loco pilots and urgent recruitment on a war footing. On August 27, 2025, AILRSA will launch strong protests, including gate meetings at all crew booking stations across the country.