The ‘Black Beauties’ of Indian Railways might have been edged out long back by modern day locomotives, but real beauties have taken over the demanding jobs of locomotive drivers.
Passengers and onlookers on the main platform of Tiruchirappalli Junction were in for a surprise when they saw a woman boarding the cabin of a WDG-3A (Wide Gauge Diesel Goods-3000 HP) engine, manoeuvring it and connecting it to a passenger train. Narayana Vadivu (39), Southern Railway’s first woman goods loco driver, is getting trained at the Diesel Traction Training Centre at Tiruchirappalli to be the “commander” of mail, express and super fast trains. She has graduated to high-power WDG series engines which are deployed to haul heavy loads.
Southern Railway, a trendsetter of the monolithic Indian Railways had proved it beyond doubt on September 27 this year that women have come of age and are second to none in operating heavy duty diesel locomotives on their own. That day saw Vadivu and Jhansi Rani, another woman assistant locomotive driver commanding the cabin of a diesel locomotive at Vridhachalam Junction, 213 km south of Chennai.
The all-women crew hauled more than 50 empty bogie covered wagons from the station to Ariyalur, which is 54 kms away. Watched by Palanisamy, senior locomotive inspector, Vadivu smoothly transported the bogies to Ariyalur. Neither the engineers monitoring the movement of trains nor the stations through which the goods train chugged out were aware of the fact that history was being created by the all women-crew on that trip.
“She is a born locomotive driver. Her performance was superb,” Palanisamy, the senior locomotive inspector with four decades of experience behind him, told The Pioneer about his ‘ward’. As it was Vadivu’s first ‘outing’ on the open line, a senior locomotive driver accompanied her in order to help Vadivu get familiarised with the route. “I did not open my mouth at all. Vadivu was performing all her tasks as if she has been doing it for ages. She is wonderful,” said Palanisamy.
Narayana Vadivu, a diploma holder in electronics and communication engineering joined Indian Railways as a track woman in 2004. Her initial responsibilities included maintenance of railway tracks. In 2006 she appeared for the competitive examination held to select assistant locomotive drivers, came out with flying colours and underwent seven months of training in the elite Railway Institutes at Tiruchirapalli.
“I worked as assistant locomotive driver for five years. In 2011, I was promoted as diesel shunter,” said Vadivu. All these years, she worked in the yard as well as locomotive sheds. “My responsibilities included taking the train from the yard to the platform and back and shunting jobs. It was after my promotion as goods locomotive driver in 2013 that I was asked to go on the open line,” said Vadivu. Since July 2013, she has been assisting locomotive drivers transporting goods trains laden with rice, pulses, wheat and cement.
“In the month of September I started independent forays. Now I have an assistant locomotive driver who helps me with signals and track clearance,” Vadivu explains with a smile. The giant diesel locomotive becomes a toy in the hands of Narayana Vadivu. “It is easier and smooth to operate a locomotive than a car. The only pre-condition is concentration and presence of mind. You have to forget all other things in life while you are in command of the locomotive,” explained Vadivu. She is looking forward to the day when she will be operating high-speed express and mail trains.