A review of historical statistics on railway accidents may give the impression that such instances are a thing of the past. The Indian Railways has made great improvement, with the average number of accidents falling from 1,390 in the 1960s to 80 in the last decade. However, the recent triple-train crash in Odisha’s Balasore, one of the deadliest in India, has raised concerns about rail safety.
An Overview of Train Accidents
- Derailments: Derailments account for the vast majority of railway accidents, accounting for almost 70% of all incidents since 1990-91. They occur when the wheels of a train leave the tracks, which can be caused by track flaws, rail fractures, rolling stock defects, or even high speed.
- Accidents at Level Crossings: Level crossing accidents occur when a train collides with a car or person at an intersection. These incidents are frequently blamed to driver irresponsibility, poor warning systems, or disrespect for safety precautions.
- Train collisions occur when two or more trains collide with each other. They can occur as a result of signal problems, human mistake, or miscommunication among railway personnel. Collisions pose a substantial risk to the safety of passengers and can result in serious injuries or fatalities.
- Train Fires: Train fires can have disastrous repercussions. They can be caused by electrical faults, mechanical breakdowns, or even intentional crimes. Rapid reaction and efficient fire suppression systems are critical for minimising damage and maintaining passenger safety.
The reasons and responsibilities for rail accidents
- Railway Staff Negligence or Failure: Approximately 55% of significant train accidents are linked to railway employee negligence or failure. This includes signalling failures, bad track or rolling stock maintenance, insufficient training, or failure to follow safety regulations.
- Factors outside the control of the railway staff: Around 28% of train accidents are caused by reasons beyond the control of railway personnel. These may include incidents induced by external factors such as unauthorised track crossings by humans or cars, sabotage, natural disasters, or terrorist attacks.
- Equipment Failure: Approximately 6% of railway accidents are caused by equipment failure, which includes signalling system faults, rolling stock flaws, or infrastructure component failures.
- Responsibilities are shared: It is critical to recognise that safeguarding rail safety is a shared duty of both the railway administration and passengers. Passengers must follow safety precautions, avoid trespassing, and report any suspicious activity.
Safety expenditure trends and distribution
- Allocation in the Union Budget: The Indian Railways received a sizable allocation of 2.40 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2023-24. This unprecedented funding indicates the railway system’s acknowledgment of the importance of safety.
- Capital investment Share: When it comes to capital investment for critical safety tasks like track renewal, signalling, and telecommunications, the allocation shares have either shrunk or stayed stable in recent years.
- Track Renewal: Track renewal allocation has decreased, with the percentage reducing to 7.2% in FY24. This suggests a potential gap in prioritising track maintenance and renewal, which are critical for safe train operations.
- Signalling spending: When measured as a percentage of budgetary support for capital spending, the anticipated signalling expenditure remains at a low 1.7%. A sufficient investment in signalling systems is required to ensure safe and efficient railway operations.
- Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK): With a corpus of 1 lakh crore, the RRSK fund aims to offer financial support for crucial safety-related initiatives and accident prevention. However, according to a March 2023 parliamentary standing committee report, RRSK appropriations have continually fallen short since its inception.
- Earmarked Allocation Targets: Over the last five years, the Railways has struggled to reach earmarked allocation targets for safety-related activities. This highlights the importance of adhering to allocation plans and ensuring that earmarked monies are used properly for safety measures.
Challenges in attaining the track renewal target
- Annual Track Renewal Goal: According to the Ministry of Railways’ white paper, roughly 4,500 km of track should be renewed annually to ensure the safety and efficiency of train operations. This goal is based on the necessity to solve track deficiencies, rail fractures, and other concerns that could result in derailments or accidents.
- Target Achievement: Data show that the Indian Railways has failed in recent years to meet the required track renewal targets. With the exception of one year, the Railways has routinely fallen short of the Ministry’s annual renewal target.
- Track Renewal Influencing Factors: Several variables contribute to the difficulties associated with track renewal. Financial limits, restricted resources, logistical obstacles, and operational constraints are examples of these. The Indian Railways’ enormous network, spanning hundreds of kilometres, poses substantial obstacles in efficiently replacing tracks across the whole system.
- Budgetary Allocation: Allocating financial resources for track renewal is critical to reaching targets. However, the financial allocation for track renewal has decreased in subsequent years, reaching 7.2% in FY24. Inadequate budgetary support can stymie timely and extensive track renewal.
- Effective track maintenance practises are critical for recognising and fixing possible issues before they become safety hazards. Regular inspections, prompt repairs, and adherence to maintenance plans are vital to track longevity and safety. Improvements in maintenance practises can help to make track renewal initiatives more efficient.
The way forward
- Strengthen Safety Governance: Within the Indian Railways, create a dedicated safety governance framework to ensure clear lines of accountability and responsibility for safety-related issues. This includes forming safety committees, doing frequent safety audits, and putting in place effective safety management systems.
- Extensive Risk Assessment: Conduct extensive risk assessments across the railway network to identify potential hazards and weaknesses. This should entail analysing historical data, conducting safety studies, and implementing advanced risk prediction and mitigation technologies.
- Continuous Safety Training: Provide regular and specialised safety training programmes for all levels of railway personnel. Training on emergency response techniques, safety protocols, and the usage of safety equipment is included. Encourage a safety culture that emphasises alertness, process adherence, and continual learning.
- Infrastructure Improvements: Invest in the modernization and updating of railway infrastructure, such as tracks, bridges, signalling systems, and level crossings. To improve safety and efficiency, use sophisticated technologies like as automated signalling systems, track monitoring systems, and predictive maintenance tools.
- Technological Innovations: To increase safety measures, embrace emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics. Use these technologies for real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, risk assessment, and detecting potential safety risks early.
- Partnerships and collaboration: Encourage relationships with national and international organisations, research institutions, and technology providers in order to share knowledge, best practises, and new railway safety solutions. Participate in public-private partnerships to pool expertise and resources for safety enhancement projects.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Use data analytics and predictive modelling to uncover safety trends, make sound judgements, and effectively allocate resources. Create a solid data management system to collect, analyse, and disseminate safety-related data for informed policymaking.
- Audits of safety on a regular basis: Conduct safety audits on a regular basis to check compliance with safety requirements, identify gaps, and implement corrective actions. Involve unbiased and thorough safety specialists to ensure fairness and complete evaluation.
- Maintain transparency when reporting safety-related incidents, accidents, and near-miss occurrences. To create accountability and drive continuous improvement, share safety performance statistics with the public, stakeholders, and regulatory authorities.
@the end
While the Indian Railways has made significant progress in lowering the incidence of railway accidents in recent years, the current Balasore tragedy has highlighted important safety concerns. Negligence, equipment failure, and inadequate track replacement all add to the ongoing risks. By confronting these difficulties front on, the Indian Railways can regain public trust and maintain passenger safety as its first priority.
Source: https://m.economictimes.com/thumb/msid-100772999,width-1200,height-900,resizemode-4,imgsize-110920/rail-bccl.jpg