The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has introduced second phone connectivity at the cabins in railway level crossings to ensure that there is no disruption in communication between railway employees posted at the gates and in nearby stations.

Sabyasachi De, the chief public relations officer(CPRO) of the NFR, said they had provided a second phone in around 1,030 level crossings of the zone. Altogether, there are 1,447 railway-level crossings in the zone.

“The decision has been made to ensure that the gatemen posted at the level crossings do not face any problem in contacting the station master and other employees and vice-versa. So far, they had one phone at the cabins but now, a second phone has been provided. If one of the phones doesn’t work, the gatemen can use the other phone for communication,” said De.

Sources in NFR said after the recent accident of the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express between Rangapani and Chater Hat stations of Darjeeling district which claimed
10 lives, questions were raised over the role of the gatemen posted at the railway crossing located among these two stations.

“Questions were raised as to whether the gatemen had alerted the station masters as they saw the goods train speeding behind the Kanchanjunga Express on the same track.
The plan to introduce a second phone will surely help in having seamless communication between station masters and those posted at the level crossings,”
said a retired railway official.

The accident also led to questions over the vacancy of loco pilots and assistant loco pilots and whether they get adequate rest before joining their duties. Many political parties in opposition and leaders of the trade unions of railway employees have mentioned that around 18,000 posts of loco pilots and assistant loco pilots have been vacant for years, they had pointed out.

This has made the railway authorities, including officials of NFR elaborate on some of the amenities which are provided to the running staff like LPs and ALPs in different
stations.