Over the last five years, there has been a near four-fold increase in the number of train drivers who failed an alcohol test. Most of the train drivers showed up drunk for work. The disturbing fact is, that about 15% of them failed the test after the end of the journey, which means they were drunk while driving the train risking lives of hundreds of passengers.
As per the reports, there have been a total of 281 cases of breathalyser failure in the last five years. Seventy-five cases were reported from the Secunderabad division, which comes under South Central Zone and forty-five cases were reported from Northern Zone including a Jan Shatabdi driver. Twenty-three divisions including Agra, Jhansi, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Pune didn’t report any such case in last five years.
Increasing stress levels is believed to be the cause for a rise in the number of drunken train drivers. As per the railway rules, every loco pilot has to undergo a breathalyzer test when signing on and signing off duty. Failing this test will lead to the termination of the driver.
