RAILWAYS
TO INTRODUCE USER-FRIENDLY DRIVER'S CABS IN LOCOMOTIVES : NITISH
KUMAR
The
Railway Minister Shri Nitish Kumar has said that the Indian Railways
are taking steps to design and develop Crew cabs of the locomotives
with several user friendly features so that the Crew is able to
pay full attention towards safety related duties. The new designed
Crew-cab will provide better comforts to drivers warding off fatigue
leading to safe driving, he added.
Shri
Nitish Kumar was speaking at the "Most Crew Friendly Cab Competition"
for diesel railway engines organised by the Railway Board here
today. The Railway Minister pointed out that the earlier belief
was that the driver may fall asleep if very comfortable conditions
in the cab are provided. However, this notion has changed the
world over and the Railway Safety Review Committee has also recommended
comfortable seats and other improvements in the Crew cab so as
to reduce the stress and fatigue while driving the loco. The Railway
Minister said that the Railways production units, workshops and
diesel sheds all over the country were given directions to work
on improving driver’s cab by focussing attention towards several
user-friendly features. Appreciating the objective of the Most
Crew Friendly Cab Competition, the Minister said that the competition
has really succeeded in encouraging several railway units to come
out with various useful improvements and modifications in the
engine’s cab. He said that the good features developed by participating
departments in the competition will be incorporated in all other
locomotives in the country in a phased manner. He said that all
Crew cabs will now be air-conditioned and will have several useful
features. He said that a comfortable atmosphere would make driver
fully alert, fresh and attentive thereby improving his efficiency
and performance. The Minister said that the move for better driver’s
cab is also one of the aspects of safety and these improvements/modifications
can be carried out in a very small amount of money.
The
Most Crew Friendly Cab Competition for diesel locomotives involving
all zonal railways and production units was organised at New Delhi
Railway Station today. The focus areas for designing the new user-friendly
crew cab included better, comfortable & adjustable seats;
more leg space ; better door locks, windows sliding arrangement
; better amenities such as air-conditioning, toilets, drinking
water, tea making arrangements, temperature control etc. ;
better Cab lighting, better signal track visibility ; ergonomic
features improving access to various controls and ease of handling
; superior aesthetics, colour scheme, finish, interior
décor; injury free features ; aerodynamic profile
; noise, vibration, dust proofing, safety features like
driver’s view, headlight, large size rear view mirror, auto-flasher
etc..
Various
production units, workshops, diesel sheds participating in the
competition presented their locos with different kinds of improvements
and modifications in their driver’s cab. Evaluation of designs
was done by drivers and a committee of two Executive Directors
(Mechanical), Railway Board. While 60% marks were allotted by
the drivers remaining 40% were allotted by the Committee. Based
on this evaluation, the names of the winner departments were announced
by Shri S. Dhasarathy, Member (Mechanical), Railway Board. The
Railway Minister Shri Nitish Kumar presented the certificates
to winners. . In the Diesel Loco Shed category, Guntakal Shed
of South Central Railway won the first prize, Ratlam Shed of Western
Railway bagged the second prize and Alambagh Shed of Northern
Railway received the third prize. In the workshop category, the
first and the second prize winners were Parel workshop of Central
Railway and Golden Rock workshop of Southern Railway respectively.
In the production unit category, DLW bagged the first prize. The
prize money for the first, second and the third place was Rs.2.5
Lakhs, Rs.2.00 Lakhs and Rs.1.50 Lakhs respectively. A special
prize of Rs.1 lakh each was also given to DMU of Southern railway,
Ludhiyana of Northern railway and Vatva of Western Railway. Delhi
division of Northern Railway bagged a special prize of Rs.50,000.
Members
of Railway Board, General Manager (Northern railway), Delhi’s
Divisional Railway Manager and several officials and workers from
production units, loco sheds and workshops were among those present
on the occasion.
