How vigorous is the job profile can be noted from this very fact that the Railway recruits persons as 'Assistant Loco Pilot' .
An Assistant Loco Pilot thus learns the tactics and dos and don'ts required for train operation.
Thereafter they are promoted as 'Loco Pilot Shunter', after proper courses and practical trainings, wherein they are supposed to drive locomotives in sheds/yards at not more than 15 km/h speeds.
Centre for Railway Information Systems New Delhi, an IT development unit for Indian Railways, has developed a software named "Crew Management System", wherein bookings of this sensitive category of people, which was done manually till now and monitored at various levels by Inspectors and Officers, is arranged through software.
The software system was rolled out in December 2007 and already installed at about 2200 data entry nodes at over 290 crew booking points.
The work has been completed and provided with Thin clients connected to a server cluster at CRIS, wherein all the functions like crew bookings, call served to crews, their signing on duties are done through computers after ensuring their rest, training and medical particulars.