A fully air-conditioned crew lobby, rest rooms, biometric attendance, the crew lobby under the South Eastern Railway at Andul station is equipped with state-of-the-art amenities, claimed the zonal railway officials today.

The crew lobbies, as emphasised by the SER officials, the authorities have asserted in providing the basic home-like amenities for maximum mental and physical rest, in-between duties. “From washing machine to food of their choice and comfortable rest rooms, the crew lobby at Andul is designed in such way that the loco pilots, assistant loco pilots and guards, who are mostly from outside the state, get a homely atmosphere,” said the chief public relations office of the SER, Om Prakash Charan.

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A team of around 359 running staff has also been deployed to keep the crew lobby operational and make the place a comfortable space for the railway staff.

At Andul station, as pointed out by the CPRO, the crew lobby serves mostly the loco pilots, assistant loco pilots and guards working on goods trains. The loco pilots and guards along with their family members are given counselling sessions by the SER at regular intervals to ensure that the loco pilots get a good atmosphere at home as well.

Like the SER, the Eastern Railway’s crew lobbies are all air-conditioned with a cubicle system for uninterrupted rest, food counters, separate restroom for women staff. Foot massagers at the crew rest rooms from safety funds have also been provided for the running staff. Existing Sealdah running room has a separate ladies room with attached toilet with one dining set for the separate use of lady crew and train manager. As informed by the zonal railway, the cost of the meal is provided by railways, including 90 per cent borne by railways and 10 per cent by the motorman/loco pilots/ assistant loco pilots.

The combined crew booking lobby and crew rest room at Sealdah have a total bed strength of 30 in guard rest room and 48 in motor man/loco pilots/ assistant loco pilot rest room.

According to the CPRO of the zonal railway, Kausik Mitra, at present, there are 26 crew lobbies over Eastern Railway, most of which have both crew booking and crew waiting facilities. Apart from this, educational videos, simulating modules and so on are also available at the crew booking lobbies and rest room complex to upgrade their working knowledge.

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The Kolkata Metro Railway has six rest rooms for motormen who get refreshed during a minimum 30 min rest between two trips, informed the city Metro today. According to the city Metro office, as motormen go home at night, there is no concept of running room as well as outstation rest. Each crew lobby is attached with rest rooms with adequate chairs, tables, beds etc. Total six crew lobbies are provided in different corridors. For display of instructions and necessary guidelines, white boards have also been provided.