Skip to main content

One Mistake, One Memo: Why Running Staff Live Under Constant Psychological Pressure

By

In the world of railways, millions sleep peacefully every night because someone else is wide awake—alert, focused, and carrying the weight of absolute responsibility. For running staff—loco pilots and train managers—work does not end with duty hours. It follows them home, sits beside them at the dining table, and often lies awake with them at night.

This is not just a job. It is a 24×7 mental burden where one mistake, one second of human error, can invite a memo, suspension, inquiry—or worse, lifelong guilt.

A Profession Where Perfection Is Not Optional

In most professions, mistakes are corrected.
In railways, mistakes are recorded, reported, and remembered.

Running staff operate under a system where:

  • A signal missed by inches

  • A speed exceeded by seconds

  • A brake applied slightly late

can turn into an official memo—sometimes even when no accident occurs.

The irony?
The system demands machine-level perfection from human beings—humans who are fatigued, sleep-deprived, and constantly adjusting to irregular shifts.

The Invisible Enemy: Psychological Pressure

Physical fatigue is visible.
Mental pressure is silent—and far more dangerous.

Running staff live with:

  • Continuous fear of vigilance checks

  • Anxiety over post-duty breath analysis

  • Stress about surprise inspections

  • The constant thought: “Did I miss anything?”

Even after completing duty safely, the mind does not relax.
A simple phone ring from the control office can spike the heart rate.

This hyper-vigilant mindset slowly rewires the brain—from calm professionalism to chronic anxiety.

Night Duty: When the Mind Is Forced Against Nature

Night duty is not just about staying awake.
It is about forcing the brain to function at peak alertness against its biological clock.

At 2:30 AM:

  • Signals blur

  • Reflexes slow

  • Judgment weakens

Yet the expectation remains the same: zero error tolerance.

Sleep debt accumulates silently. The body may adapt, but the mind pays the price—irritability, forgetfulness, emotional numbness, and in many cases, depression.

One Memo Can Break Years of Confidence

A memo is not just paper.

For a running staff member, it means:

  • Loss of self-confidence

  • Fear of future duties

  • Sleepless nights replaying the incident

  • A permanent mark on service record

Many running staff admit privately:

“The memo hurts more than the fatigue.”

Because it questions not just performance—but character and competence.

Family Life Under the Shadow of Duty

Psychological pressure does not stay at the workplace.

At home:

  • Running staff are physically present but mentally absent

  • Conversations are cut short due to exhaustion

  • Family plans collapse due to sudden calls for duty

Children learn early that Appa or Amma may leave anytime.
Spouses carry emotional load silently.

Over time, guilt replaces joy.

Why This Pressure Is Rarely Spoken About

Running staff are trained to be tough.
Complaining is often seen as weakness.

There is also fear:

  • Speaking up may invite scrutiny

  • Stress is not officially recognized as an “injury”

  • Mental health still carries stigma

So pressure is absorbed—not released.

And absorbed pressure eventually explodes—in health issues, anger, silence, or burnout.

The System vs. the Human

The railway system is built for safety—and rightly so.
But safety cannot survive on fear alone.

True safety comes from:

  • Rested minds

  • Supported employees

  • Error-learning systems, not error-punishing cultures

When humans are treated like machines, machines eventually fail.

What Needs to Change

This article is not an accusation.
It is a plea for balance.

What running staff need:

  • Genuine rest between duties

  • Psychological counseling without stigma

  • Inquiry systems that consider fatigue and duty conditions

  • Recognition that mental health is safety

A calm loco pilot is a safe loco pilot.

A Silent Salute

To every running staff member who:

  • Drove through fog with pounding heart

  • Completed duty despite sleepless nights

  • Faced a memo with dignity

  • Returned to duty again, carrying fear quietly

Your strength is unseen, but it is real.

You do not just run trains.
You carry lives—including your own.

And it is time the system acknowledged that.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who Are Running Staff—and Why Does Indian Railways Call Them That?

By
Most people hear the term running staff but never really stop to think about what it means. Who exactly are they, and why are they called “running” staff when they are not running on tracks? Then who are they really. who are running staff in Indian railways? Running Staff are railway employees who are directly involved in the movement of trains. They are the people on duty while the train is running, responsible for safe, continuous, and punctual train operations. In Indian Railways, the term Running Staff mainly includes: > Loco Pilots (Drivers of trains) > Train Managers / Guards (in charge of train supervision and safety) They are different from station staff or office staff because their workplace moves with the train. Why Are They Called “Running Staff”? They are called Running Staff because: 🔹 Their duty is calculated based on train movement (kilometers & hours) 🔹 They work only when the train is running 🔹 Their job starts at sign-on and ends at sign-off, often far f...
1 comment
Read more

Night Duty Is Not Just Fatigue: How Irregular Shifts Are Slowly Rewriting a Loco Pilot’s Health

By
  Night duty is often spoken about as if it is just another shift. “Take proper rest .” “Sleep later.” “Body will adapt.” But for a loco pilot, night duty is not just loss of sleep. It is a slow, silent rewriting of the body, mind, and life itself. When the world sleeps, a loco pilot stays awake—not for comfort, not for choice, but for responsibility. Trains must move. Signals must be obeyed. Lives depend on alertness. And yet, the very system that demands perfection quietly pushes the human body beyond what it was designed to endure. The Body Was Never Meant for This Clock The human body follows a natural rhythm. Sleep at night. Wake with light. Digest during the day. Repair during rest. Night duty breaks this rhythm again and again. One night you report at 11 PM. Another day at 3 AM. Sometimes you sleep at 8 AM. Sometimes at noon. Sometimes not at all. There is no “routine.” There is only adjustment after adjustment, until the body stops asking and starts suffering. Sleep b...
Post a Comment
Read more