What Are the Challenges Faced by Railroad Dispatchers?

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FACED

BY RAILROAD DISPATCHERS? Railroad train dispatchers are responsible for various railway operations. They have to do a time-sensitive job, which requires alertness and focus. From planning, coordinating, and monitoring to handling emergencies, the work pressure is always at its peak.

Let’s know about some of the work challenges faced by the railroad dispatchers:

The job role of a railroad dispatcher is not limited to routing and scheduling trains. Sometimes they have to deal with unplanned demands of the track usage.

It is because of any emergency or the immediate requirement of the track maintenance. Handling such situations with ease is a difficult task.

Sometimes the arrival of the train gets delayed because of the speed, or weather conditions. A Delay of few minutes can affect the overall route planning. Dispatchers need to be very careful while monitoring the trains and taking immediate action.

One of the major challenges faced by a railroad dispatcher is the communication barrier. As mentioned earlier, dispatchers have to coordinate with a lot of people. They have to remain in touch with drivers, locomotive engineers and coordinate with train masters. Managing all these multiple tasks together is complicated.