Railway Board steps in to deal with shortage, poor service of walkie-talkies

The Railway Board has issued instructions to all its zones and divisions to overcome shortages and ensure proper maintenance of VHF Very High Frequency handsets also called walkietalkiesIt is a crucial communication medium among drivers guards station masters and other officers engaged in the safe operation of trainsPrior to the Boards instructions various written complaints about pathetic condition of VHF sets and their shortages were raised by safety category employees to their respective department heads in various zones and divisionsIn April 2022 the Railway Board had advised its zones to procure VHF sets for crew along with other measures to overcome the shortage of quality walkietalkie setsHowever it has been observed that some Railways are facing shortage of VHF sets for crew the Board said in its letter dated June 26It said VHF communication is very crucial for train operation and their nonavailability is a serious safety concernThe Board issued various instructions to ensure availability of quality VHF setsFor proper maintenance of VHF sets the Board said A JPO Joint Procedure Order may be signed between SampT Signal amp Telecommunication and Electrical and Operating departments at SAG Senior Administrative Grade level for issue of VHF sets to crew maintenancerepair of VHF sets safe keeping of VHF sets dealing with defective VHF sets batteries spare batteries and chargers According to the Board 5watt VHF sets will be treated as lobby equipment across all zonal railwaysCrew lobby incharge will hand over only fully charged 5watt VHF sets and one fully charged spare battery to the crew members the Board saidUseful life of battery is one year for the VHF sets used for crew as per the Boards letter dated 19082010 it addedMeanwhile many guards and train drivers across various railway zones continue to complain regarding the poor working condition of VHF setsMaintenance of VHF sets is very poor and pathetic due to which operating staff who use these equipment face problems Often they conk out during train operations causing huge hardships to drivers and guards said Ashok Sharma Assistant General Secretary National Federation of Indian Railwaymen NFIRIf you see the Abnormality Register in which drivers write their grievances after completing their train duty you will find that a lot of complaints are with regard to the poor working condition of VHF sets a loco inspector saidThe Jhansi Branch of All India Guards Council a body of train guards too highlighted the poor working of VHF sets to its division saying The condition of walkietalkie sets are pathetic as their batteries get consumed in a single tripThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever