No more soft drinks and mouthwash: Loco pilots in Southern Railway face new restrictions

New Delhi: In a surprising move, the Thiruvananthapuram division of Southern Railways has implemented a ban on the consumption of certain dietary items that could lead to false breathalyzer readings.

A circular issued by the division on February 18 highlighted the increasing presence of alcohol in the exhaled air of crew members, detected by breath analyzers during Sign On and Sign Off at the crew lobby. The reasons for these false readings were primarily attributed to the consumption of homeopathic medicines, soft drinks, tender coconut water, certain plantain fruits, cough syrup, mouthwash, and other similar items.

“While analyzing the blood sample taken in such cases at the Chemical Examiner's Laboratory, owned by the government, almost all blood samples were found with NIL content of alcohol in it,” the circular said.

“But the disturbance created due to alcohol presence in the exhaled air is too high which directly affects the smooth operation of crew links. Hence, it is instructed to all running staff that the consumption of the above-mentioned items before Sign On and Sign Off which leads to alcohol detection in the BA test is totally prohibited,” it added.

The circular further specified that if loco pilots need to consume any of these items under unavoidable circumstances, they must inform the CRC (crew controller) on duty in writing, explaining the reason before undergoing the Sign On or Sign Off process.

“CRC on duty should inform the same to the CCRC (a loco pilot who works in the Centralized Control Room Complex) and ADEE/OP (Assistant Divisional Engineer, Operation) immediately. Consumption of medicine containing alcohol should be continued with the written approval of Railway Medical Officers Only,” the circular said.

“Detection of alcohol in BA test without unavoidable reasons will be treated as a wilful attempt made by the crew to disturb the train traffic and appropriate DAR action (disciplinary action) will be initiated against them,” it added. PTI