New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) In what could raise alarm bells for the Railways, more than a dozen of its drivers were found to be in an inebriated state shortly before assuming their daily duty.
Fifteen locomotive drivers found drunk during the routine breathalyser checks in different railway divisions were debarred from driving trains and suitable actions were initiated against them for gross indiscipline and violating service rules, a senior railway ministry official said.
Several of the train drivers caught were from Northern Railway which operates some of the prestigious trains and handles bulk of the traffic movement.
While Moradabad division reported as many as 11 such cases, Lucknow, Ambala, Guntur and Bijaywada divisions had one case each of loco pilots found drunk in the last six months from September 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011.