Indian Railways Derailed

This year has been especially disastrous for the Indian Railways, with numerous rail derailments and accidents taking place in different places.

The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services— a group of academics, erstwhile administrators, trade unionists and social activists, expressed their concern and outrage.

“The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services expresses their deep concern and outrage over the recent series of accidents on the Indian railway network. The spate of railway accidents since June 2023, starting with one of the worst-ever disasters, at Balasore, and the most recent one, just a few days ago in August, highlights serious problems with the administration of the Indian Railways.

“There is an immediate need to apportion responsibility for this unfortunate situation, starting right at the top of the political and administrative leadership,” it said in a statement.

On July 30, Mumbai-Howrah Mail met with an accident killing two people and injuring 20 others when at least 18 coaches of the mail derailed in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district. The accident occurred near Barabamboo, approximately 80 km from Jamshedpur.

Meanwhile, the same month, four people were killed and 20 injured when eight coaches of the Assam-bound 15904 Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

All the accidents highlight a worrisome pattern of derailments. The continuous accidents have left people worried about the railway safety in the country.

India's railway network is the fourth largest in the world, with a total route length of approximately 68,426 kilometers. It is used by about 25 million people every day.

As of March 31 2023, the Indian railway network spanned 68,584 km (42,616 mi) in route length. Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from 80 to 200 km/h (50 to 124 mph), though the maximum speed attained by passenger trains is 160 km/h (99 mph).

The recent series of accidents has reminded people of the tragic Balasore accident. On June 2, 2023, the Howrah-bound Coromandel Express collided with a stationary goods train in Balasore district, Odisha, derailing most of its coaches. During the incident, a few coaches of the Coromandel Express toppled onto the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, which was passing by simultaneously.

Even as people are waiting for justice, there seems to be no solace for people.

“Most urgently, allowing a part-time minister to administer India’s largest single enterprise is no longer tenable; in fact, it is downright irresponsible to entrust such a key ministry to a person who has other responsibilities.

“To make matters worse, every time there has been an accident the current minister has displayed poor leadership skills, demonstrated by the alacrity with which he has blamed those at the lowermost rung, instead of owning up to his own failings or of those at the highest level of the railway administration,” the statement by People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services further said.

Meanwhile, the government’s response has been nothing short of apathy. The reels and shorts of overcrowded trains and inhuman conditions of travel only show glimpses of this trajectory.

Instead of taking serious cognisance of the matter, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw lost his temper and lashed out at the opposition in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (August 1) after he came under fire for a series of railway accidents.

He blamed the Congress for spreading false information and lies by amplifying the “smallest” incident on social media through its troll army to instill fear in the hearts of railway passengers.

In his reply to the debate on the Demand for Grants of Railways, Vaishnaw said that while even a single rail accident is bad, he then proceeded to compare the Modi years with the UPA years and said that rail accidents had reduced by 68%.

“Even a single accident is bad. No one is happy to see such circumstances. But because opposition members are asking for a number that is why I am placing the number here. During the UPA years about 171 railway accidents would take place on average in a year. That has reduced by 68%. Even now we are not satisfied and should not be, whether government or opposition. We need to work together on safety and we are ready to do so in every way. There is no doubt about that,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to reports, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India found a deficit of Rs 103,395 crore for track renewal, sparking worries about the financial position of the railway. Out of the allocated Rs 58,459 crore, only Rs 671.92 crore was used by the end of the fiscal year 2020-21, which represents merely 0.7% of the total amount needed.

The statement quoted the data by the railway authorities. According to a report by the Commission of Railway Safety, the number of railway accidents increased from 35 in 2021-22 to 48 in 2022-23, with serious accidents doubling in successive years. From 2013-14 to 2019-20 in contrast, there was “a declining trend” in railway accidents.

The report noted that derailments caused most of the accidents, accounting for 75 per cent of the total in 2022-23 and over 77 per cent in 2021-22. Collision and fire were the next biggest causes.

In 2024 there were 15 derailments till June 2024; since then, there have been 8 more, taking the total to 23 derailments so far in 2024. In comparison, in the full year of 2021-22 there were 27 derailments and in 2022-23 there were 36 derailments.

According to a CAG report published in 2022, which examined the causes of derailments, one-fourth of all derailments were attributable to poor or inadequate track maintenance. It is significant that allocations for “track renewals”, which is supposed to address this specific need, has been dwindling in recent years.

“In particular, immediately after every accident, officials cite data on the number of accidents relative to train running operations, pointing to the fact that they have declined – from about 0.44 accidents per train km in 2001 to just 0.1 accidents per train km in 2023, which translates to an accident for about 10 million train km. The Commission does not believe this selective use of statistics reflects the true picture of the state of railway safety for several reasons,” the statement further explained.

The Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), established to enhance safety measures, has been abused for unnecessary purchases like foot massagers and furniture instead of essential safety upgrades.

“The Railway Minister’s response to the spate of accidents has been shockingly irresponsible. While we appreciate that he, in political stature, bears no comparison to stalwarts of yesteryears like Lal Bahadur Shastri, who stepped down as Railway Minister after a train accident in 1956, the least that was expected of him was the acceptance of failure and a statement of a plan to address them. Instead, he and his government proceed as if these accidents are of no consequence,” the think tank said.

A total of Rs 2.40 lakh crore has been earmarked in capital expenditure for the Indian Railways in the Union Budget 2023-24. This is approximately nine times the amount spent in fiscal year 2013-14.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has expressed “deep concern” over what he terms as a significant reduction in funds allocated to Southern Railway in Union Budget 2024-25. In a letter to Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Stalin highlighted the potential setbacks this budget cut could cause for several key railway projects in his state.

“We are disappointed that the allocation of funds for Southern Railway, under certain heads of accounts, are much lesser when compared to the allocations in the Interim Budget the same year,” Stalin stated, noting that the reduction of Rs 674.8 crore for new line projects “will severely affect the progress of many important ongoing projects in Tamil Nadu”.

The think tank too has said that the railway budget has been proven to be “fatal”.

“The abandonment of a separate Railway Budget has proven to be a fatal step, which has not only curtailed Parliamentary oversight but also prevented the government from focusing on the specific needs of such an important department that has a commanding influence on national social and economic life.

“The lack of accountability that this has endangered has significantly eroded public confidence in the Indian Railways, an institution that has been the nation’s pride,” the statement added.

In July-August 2024 alone there have seen multiple derailments and collisions:

August 17: More than 20 coaches of the Sabarmati Express derailed near Kanpur – no fatalities

July 31: Two wagons of a goods train derailed near Rangapani railway station in West Bengal.

July 29: Howrah-Mumbai derailed near Chakradharpur, Jharkhand. Two persons died and 20 were injured

July 30: Howrah-Mumbai express derailed near Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, killing 2 people and injuring 10.

July 18: Derailment in Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh - Four people killed and several injured.

July 19: Derailment at Valsad, Gujarat

July 20: Derailment at Amroha, U.P.

July 21: Derailment at Alwar, Rajasthan.

July 26: A goods train derailed at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

The Debroy Committee (2015) had recommended for privatisation within Indian Railways and proposed allowing private operators to run profitable operations — both freight and passenger trains.

The committee also suggested the establishment of a separate public track-holding company to provide neutral access to railway tracks for private players.

Citing global examples, Debroy mentioned particularly the United Kingdom, wherein operations and infrastructure were separated with the former left to private players such that the government could solely focus on infrastructure.

The People's Commission on Public Sector and Public Services also said that the Indian railway operations are much denser compared to many other countries. “On average, about 23,000 trains run every day – 14,000 carrying passengers and about 9,000 ferrying freight,” it said.

“If one assumes that each of these trains travels 500 km each day, this implies that every day, on average, train services run for about 1.15 million train km. This implies that an accident of some kind, somewhere on the network, is happening every 10 days. The Commission believes that this frequency of accidents is unconscionably high, especially given the dense traffic in the Indian rail network,” it added.

The need for track record on safety was emphasised by the committee with the aspirations of running a modern railway system that supposedly is aiming for a zero-tolerance policy for safe train operations.

“The Commission is of the view that safety needs to be institutionalised in the conduct of operations, in which every segment of the Railways’ workforce is empowered to participate and strengthen.

“Instead, the current regime, which is antagonistic to the workforce, not only forces workers to violate safety norms, but not report instances of transgressions so that those at the higher level in the Railways’ hierarchy can present a more rosy picture to their superiors along the chain of command,” the statement said.

These are the major railway accidents, that the committee has listed:

June 17 2024: Kanchenjunga Collision, near New Jalpaiguri, West Bengal

A goods train collided with Kanchenjunga Express between Rangapani and Chattar Hat stations in West Bengal. The loco pilot of the goods train, the train manager of the express train and14 passengers were killed and nearly 50 injured.

The CRS submitted its preliminary report on July 11, 2024. It noted that inadequate training and lack of uniform protocols led to the accident, and urged the Railways to upgrade its systems to prevent recurrence of such accidents.

June 2, 2024: Goods Train Collision in Ambala, Punjab. Both the loco pilot and his assistant on a goods train fell into micro-sleep. The loco pilot was on his fourth consecutive night shift and had already been forced to do 12 night shifts in the month. This is what plausibly caused the accident.

February 25 2024: An unmanned freight train rolled down from Kathua Railway in Jammu for 84 kms. Fortunately, there was no movement of passenger trains on this route at the time. Four railway employees were summarily dismissed.

The train consisted of 53 goods wagons but, shockingly, did not have either a brake van, nor was it issued a brake power certificate. This train was ordered to move without a TrainManager.

October 29, 2023: In Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, 14 persons including two loco pilots and a Train Manager died in this accident. The Railway Minister blamed loco pilots for watching a cricket match. The CRS later debunked this.

This accident was similar to the Kangchenjunga train collision of June 17, 2024. Here again, the automatic signalling system, which had been recently installed, had failed and, in this case too, the protocol was not made clear to the concerned workers and staff.

June 2 2023: In Balasore, Odisha, there was a triple train accident near Bahanga Bazaar Station. Nearly 300 passengers died and nearly a thousand were injured. To this day the CRS report is not in public domain because of the unprecedented intervention of the CBI, whose competence in investigating railway matters is suspect.

“The recent spate of accidents has made it obvious that there is an urgent need for a full-time Railway Minister with independent charge and without other ministerial responsibilities,” the statement by the think tank said.

The think tank’s further demands include:

- An immediate independent probe into the spate of railway accidents since June 2023 must be undertaken.

- Reintroduce the Railway Budget. As India's biggest enterprise – private or public sector – and whose operations have a major influence on economic and social life – the budgetary exercise has always allowed for wider discussion on the priorities and plans in and outside Parliament.

- The Railways must fill up all posts immediately so that safety is not compromised because of an overworked workforce

- Railway workers must be encouraged to act as whistleblowers so that violations/deviations from safety norms are brought to light expeditiously. The Railway Board must guarantee that the atmosphere of fear of victimisation that is pervasive now is ended immediately. Only a fully transparent system can be safe.

- The severe congestion of the rail network has a bearing on safety. The prolonged neglect of the Railways by the government has resulted in inadequate funds for modernisation, upgradation and expansion of the network.

- Indian Railways should completely overhaul its operating systems and make them transparent to all stakeholders to ensure safety for all – railways workers, passengers as well as the general public.

According to the ‘Hindustan Times’, derailments mostly occur due to “rail fractures” from expansion or contraction during extreme summer or winter conditions. “While technology and funding issues are there, the big problem is that adequate time to carry out routine maintenance of tracks is never available as drivers are under stress to run more trains in lesser time,” Sanjay Pandhi, of the Indian Railways Loco Running Men Organisation, told the daily in 2016.

However, experts feel one particular incident can not be pointed out towards these accidents.

The fact remains, however, that Indian Railways, which is a backbone for all classes, need a proper structure and allocation of budgets to make sure such incidents do not take place in the future.