After the horrendous triple train collision in the Eastern Indian State of Odisha on June 2 in which more than 280 were killed, few would believe that the Indian Railways had actually brought down accidents steeply between 1970-71 and 2021.
A paper presented by two railway officials at the Fifth World Congress on Disaster Management, says that accidents decreased from 840 in 1970-71 to just 22 in 2020-21.
Over the past few years, the railways had fitted equipment and adopted measures to tone up the safety systems, the paper said. There has also been a significant jump in the allocation of funds for safety systems, official records show.
In the Balasore crash, the Coromandel Express, instead of going straight, headed to the loop line due to some issue with the signaling system and hit a goods train parked there. As the Coromandel Express crashed into the goods train, some coaches of the express were thrown off onto the up line where the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express was running. This resulted in an unusual triple train crash.
The installed signal system had been designed to prevent accidents of this sort. It is regarded as a foolproof system. Hence, the railway board suspected sabotage and sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A 10-member CBI team has begun investigations on the spot.
Apparently, the lack of equipment or failure of equipment is not suspected. This absolves the railways of any charge of not installing the right equipment.
Safety record
The paper on rail safety mentioned earlier, was presented at the Fifth World Congress on Disaster Management by officials Bhupinder Singla and Samarth Singh. It was published by Routledge (Taylor and Francis group) in 2023.
The paper says that especially after the implementation of the recommendations of the Disaster Management Committee (DMC) in 2008, accidents had come down dramatically.
In the 40-year period between 1980 and 2020, there had been 15,963 accidents in total. Between 1980 and 2001-2002, there were, on an average, 595 accidents per year. But between 2002 and 2020, the annual rate of accidents had come down to just 152.
There were four major types of accident: derailment, accidents at level crossings, collisions, and fires. Derailments were the single largest category, followed by accidents at level crossings, collisions, and fire, in that order.
Derailment: There were 12,105 derailments between 1980 and 2020. There was an average of 475 derailments per year till 2001-02. Subsequently, they came down to 87 per year.
Accidents at level crossings: Between 1980 and 2001-02 there were 67 accidents per year at level crossings. Subsequently they came down to 52 per year.
Collisions: Between 1980 and 2001-2002, there were 39 collisions per year. Subsequently they came down to seven per year.
Fires: There were 31 cases of fire per year between 1980 and 2001-02. In later years the rate came down to six per year.
Safety measures
The Indian Government had passed the Disaster Management Act (DMA) in 2005 and the Railways were represented at the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Periodically, the top echelons of the Railways would communicate with the zonal railways on the safety requirements and do follow-ups.
More specifically, some concrete steps were taken. These were: 1. Extensive use of anti-collision devices 2. Replacement of over aged tracks, bridges, signals, telecommunication gears and rolling stock; 3.Manning of unmanned level crossings; 4. Using Train Actuated Warning Devices to reduce level crossing accidents. 5. Introduction of modern bridge inspection and management systems; 6. Filling up of safety category posts.
A syndicated story appearing in Telegraph India said last week that expenditure on safety related works, which include track renewal, bridges, level crossing, railway over and under bridges and signalling works, had increased from INR 70,274 crores (US$ 8.3 billion) between 2004-05 and 2013-14, to INR 178,012 crore (US$ 21.4 billion) in the period between 2014-15 and 2023-24, reflecting an increase of more than two and a half times.
But still disasters of high magnitude have occurred. According to New York Times, in 2016, 14 bogies derailed in India’s northeast killing more than 140 passengers and injuring 200. Officials at the time said a “fracture” in the tracks might have been responsible. In 2017, a derailment in southern India killed at least 36 passengers and injured 40.
However, last Friday’s crash in Odisha was the deadliest at least since the collision in 1995 about 200 Km from Delhi that killed more than 350 people.
Critics of the Narendra Modi Government say that it has recklessly opted for speed over safety neglecting maintenance.
Meanwhile, the railway board called for an investigation by the CBI to examine if there was sabotage.
Running the Indian railways is a humongous task. It is the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a total route length of 68,043 km, a running track length of 102,831 km and a total track length of 128,305 km as of March 31, 2022.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Railways ran 22,593 trains every day of which 13,452 were passenger trains. It also hauled 3.32 million tonnes of cargo every day. India is planning to upgrade its trains with Shinkansen Bullet Train technology, with Japanese assistance. The first such train will run on the 520 Km Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector at 320 Km/h. Currently, the fastest train in India is the Gatimaan Express (160 Km/h).