Indian Railways: Where safety is not a way of life

Another day, another derailment — this time, it was the Hirakhand Express meeting with an accident at Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh late on January 21. The fact that around 40 people were killed will renew calls for a debate on safety in the . But did you know that Commission of Railway Safety (CRS), the main body tasked with ensuring the safety of India’s rail network, is actually under the administrative control of the Civil Aviation Ministry?

This one fact about the CRS is indicative of the systemic flaws in the Railways’ approach to safety even as 2016 witnessed more derailments (68) than the preceding years. Worryingly, the number of derailments has been steadily rising since 2013-14, according to Railways statistics.

The CRS recently faced the heat from a Parliamentary panel for not being able to establish causes for the rising number of derailments. The agency has not yet submitted its report on the derailment of the Indore-Rajendranagar Express in November than killed more than 140 people. The fact that the CRS is not directly under the Railways limits the effectiveness of its statutory powers and most of its reports are yet to get to the implementation stage.

The Standing Committee on Railways in a recent report noted that there were significant failures in the maintenance of railway tracks. Quoting from the report, The Hindu has stated that out of 5,000km of track that was due for renewal, only 2,700 km had been renewed.

The Standing Committee’s report revealed that nearly 70% of rail accidents in 2015-16 were caused by human error such as poor maintenance practices and non-adherence to safety procedures. The human element of safety can’t be ignored: 1.42 lakh posts related to safety are vacant in the Railways at present. In addition to senior positions such as engineers, the vacancies also exist for the posts of gangmen and trackmen — the “foot soldiers” who inspect and repair tracks across the country.

The staff shortage also adds to the strain on the existing personnel who have little by way of advanced technology. In addition, the selection and training process for new staff remain time consuming.

Also read:

Despite these gaps in the safety infrastructure, the situation is unlikely to see a significant improvement anytime soon. The Times of India recently reported that of the ₹8.56 lakh crore to be invested in rail modernisation, barely 15%, ₹1.27 lakh crore, will be allocated for safety purposes. This despite the fact that worn-out bridges, track segments and railway crossings exist all across the country.

• Railways
• derailments
• Suresh Prabhu
• Parliament