Safety Issues in the Indian Railways

Within the span of three months, three major rail accidents have taken place in the country resulting in the death of over 190 people: Indore-Patna Express derailment, Sealdah-Ajmer Express derailment and recent derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express. These incidents have highlighted the appalling safety record maintained by the Indian Railways.

Railway Accidents

Railway accidents are not new to India. Over the last decade, there has been a substantial rise in the rate of passenger casualties. We note here that between 1965 to 1996, the number of deaths in accidents remained mostly under 100, except for the occasional bad year. However, situation in last two decades has turned grim. In nine out of the 10 years since 2003-04, there have been over 100 deaths due to accidents; in six of these years it has been over 200, and in three over 300. Such frequent accidents do not speak well of the world’s largest rail network.

Reasons

As per Railway figures, most of the rail accidents (around 87%) in India happen due to human errors. Out of these 87%, around 44% are caused due to failure of Railway staff while 43% due to errors of other persons than railway staff. Around 2% of accidents are due to failure of equipment, 2% due to sabotage, 6% dye to incidental factors while 3% due to unknown errors. A lot of accidents involve derailments, collisions between trains and mishaps at level crossings. For Instance: There are 30,348 level crossings (18,785 manned and 11,563 unmanned) in India. An estimated 43 per cent of accidents and 67 per cent of deaths were because of these in 2012-13.

Observations of Various Committees on Railway Safety

From time to time, various committees have recommended measures to enhance railway safety in the country. The recent committees include Anil Kakodkar Committee and Bibek Debroy committee. The Kakodkar Committee report showed that over the 64000 route kilometres on which Indian Railways has spread, derailments account for nearly half of the total accidents. That committee had come up with the idea of an independent Railway Safety Authority, Railway Research and Development Council, and strengthening the current Railway Safety Commission. Further, the committee had come up with some technical and nontechnical measures that would at that time require Rs. 1 Lakh crore in implementation. The committee though had clearly mentioned that its report would be bitten by “implementation bug”, which is true at least till this time.

Similarly, the Bibek Debroy Committee on “Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry and Railway Board” had recommended for an overarching Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) as an independent regulatory body; and an Investment Advisory Committee consisting of experts, investment bankers and representatives of SEBI, RBI, IDFC and other institutions for raising resources for investment.

Railway Safety needs correcting financing

One of the major issue which has impinged on railway safety is financial mismanagement which has led to neglect and poor maintenance of infrastructure and assets such as tracks. Track upkeep and renewal are carried out from the Depreciation Reserve Fund. Significantly, instead of increasing this fund, the governments seem to decrease the allocation to the fund. For instance, appropriation to the fund in 2016-17 Budget was 3,200 crore rupees which is nearly 60% less than the 2015-16 Budget figures.

Further, with little political will to cut the annual 30,000 crore passenger subsidies, the government has been cutting expenses by not recruiting safety staff. As per reports, 1.42 lakh safety posts are lying vacant in Railways. It is worth noting that 56 out of the 85 accidents held between April and November last year was due to the negligence of the railway staff. Seniors of Indian Railways must be held accountable for this institutional problem as laxity creeps in from the top.

Suggestions and Way Forward

Fixing the Railway Finances

There is an urgent need to fix the financials of the Railways. The government can make use of report from two separate committees  to adopt a way forward on safety and modernisation with respect to funds mobilization.

Doing away with all level crossings.

Ideally, level crossings should be done away with entirely. If the TVU (train vehicle unit), the product of the average number of trains and vehicles that pass through a level crossing during a 24-hour period, is low, the level crossing should be closed and merged with a nearby one. If the TVU is high, the level crossing should be replaced by a road under-bridge (RUB), road over-bridge (ROB) or subway. We note that nothing significant has been done in this respect.

Use of latest technologies

Till hundred percent safety measures are taken, Railway Board should explore the use of Geo-spatial technologies which combine Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing to make Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) safer for road users thereby avoiding accidents threats. It should also use drones, sensors and cameras to do 24×7 surveillance of tracks and engines in order to avert catastrophes in the future. Also, railways can opt for more PPP projects which can result in higher revenues which can be utilized for safety projects.

Use of non-combustible and non-inflammable materials in railway coaches

For many years now there has been talk about increased use of non-combustible and non-inflammable materials in railway coaches. The Railways took a policy decision to make the shift, and coach production units were asked to go in for fire-retardant material. But this is obviously a slow process and new coaches could be made with them. The problem persists with the old coaches still in use. A major drive to check passengers carrying stoves or inflammable materials was launched, and met with some success. Two other major sources of fire incidents relate to overheating wheels and electrical short circuit.

Detection of Hazards

With advances in technology, it should be possible for the Indian Railways to detect such hazards in time to prevent a fire. Smoke detectors and circuit breakers have become commonplace and can easily be installed in trains. It is anybody’s guess whether all trains have operational fire extinguishers and if every railway station is equipped to fight fires. Several inquiries and Commission reports have pointed to gaps in safety measures and suggested follow-up action.

Conclusion

The Kakodkar committee on safety last year pointed to an “implementation bug” and recommended a massive Rs.1 lakh crore programme over five years to ensure complete safety on the wheels. It suggested an allocation of Rs.20,000 crore a year, which can also be generated by means of a safety cess on passengers. The Railways should take the issue of safety much more seriously, and look at this and other ways of funding the required measures.