Loco pilots of Southern Railway began a hunger fast on Tuesday to press for their demands, chiefly the filling of long-pending assistant loco pilot (ALP) vacancies. They want to be excused from running trains continuously so they can be stationed in railway yards. The shortage of ALPs is forcing loco pilots to work extended hours, harming their health and causing problems for the public, they said. V. Balachandran, Central organising secretary of the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA), outlined key demands: increasing kilometre allowance (KMA) by 25%, similar to other railway staff travel allowances, exempting 70% of KMA from income tax, and speeding up deployment of newly recruited ALPs. They also ask for 16 hours of rest at headquarters along with 30 hours of periodic rest. The Chennai division, which runs many suburban, mail, and express trains, faces a major loco pilot shortage. To address this, Southern Railway planned to recruit retired loco pilots, but AILRSA opposed this, citing safety issues. Transport activist Dayanand Krishnan revealed through an RTI query that Chennai division alone has 461 vacancies for various loco pilot posts, leading to heavy workloads. Other divisions like Tiruchi, Madurai, and Salem have fewer vacancies. Social activist T. Sadagopan said the lack of loco pilots has reduced several suburban train services, especially on the west section, causing difficulties for commuters from Arakkonam and Tiruvallur.