What is most striking about any train accident which results in deaths is that most of the time, the accident was avoidable. Safety is a feature of rail operations – it is not an externality. Yet, once again, two trains collided at Rangapani, and one of these, unfortunately, was the passenger-carrying Kanchenjunga Express. Many precious lives were lost and several people were injured, including crew members entrusted with the responsibility of safe operations.
Collisions are the worst kind of accidents and invariably result in casualties. During the year 2022-23, a total of six collisions took place on the Indian Railways compared with only two during 2021-22. In 2023-24, four more have taken place. Most of these collisions involved casualties and injuries to passengers. While the numbers show improvements overall, when you take a long-term perspective, safety from harm does take precedence over speed and comfort. And so the only performance indicator for accidents on the IR is that they must be at zero.
The reduced number of accidents speaks highly of the efforts being made by IR. However, with the number of collisions, the focus is better shifted to tackling, reducing, and ultimately eliminating the chances of their recurrence.
Indian Railways, which suffered for many decades from a lack of finances for safety-related works including timely repairs, replacement, and maintenance of its assets, has now been provided finances exclusively for safety. This is not only through the creation of special funds known as Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) and the Rail Safety Fund but also through capital grants it is permitted to utilise towards these essential requirements.
An unprecedented allocation for capex of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore was made during 2023-24 and again for 2024-25. While the rail network is being extended to cover the farthest parts of the country, capacity augmentation of the congested routes is also being undertaken. Dedicated freight corridors are being commissioned, speeds are being increased, and there is visible development network-wide. The world’s eyes are on this juggernaut for its historic scale. It also carries a deep social responsibility and transformative potential for equity.
Following the Kanchenjunga Express collision, several speculative reports appeared in the media. An enquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety is being conducted. The prima facie cause being given is disregard of rule no. 9.01 of General and Subsidiary Rules by the Loco Pilot for passing an automatic signal at a restricted speed of 15 kmph, resulting in a collision with a stationary passenger train in the automatic signal territory. Reports also suggest that the accident took place in a section that has been newly converted to the automatic signalling system, which permits trains to follow each other at a restricted speed governed by signal aspect.
A collision is a consequential accident. An important step to address the problem is KAVACH — an anti-collision device being made available in a phased manner. Two sections — Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai — have been identified and sanctioned for this work. A total of 10,000 route km will be covered by KAVACH. As it involves the installation of compatible equipment in locomotives, at stations and on the trackside, its execution takes time, and it will be a few years down the line that these two major trunk routes get its benefit. The challenge is preventing collisions now. The time for accommodating even lower numbers of collisions is over.
The Railway Board must come up with a plan of action involving the provision of low-cost equipment in locomotives to aid the driving crew, strengthen preventive maintenance of signalling assets, impart intensive training to staff, treat every Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD) case as a major accident and deal with it accordingly. The IR’s asset reliability also needs attention. Successful examples of Automatic Train Protection Systems, working in the Mumbai suburban for the last few decades, could be emulated elsewhere. Safety Fund resources should be utilised towards these.
The financing of Indian Railways annual plans indicate that in view of limited surplus revenue generation, its contribution to RRSK has reduced to a token amount of Rs 1,000 crore, whereas the appropriation from Gross Budget Support to RRSK and the Safety Fund surpassed Rs 50,000 crore in 2023-24. As a result, there is now no dearth of funds with the railways to undertake and complete all safety-related work. However, like all major investments, this also calls for an internal outcome audit for impact assessment.
Despite major accidents involving collisions, the IR claims to have one of the best safety records in terms of accidents per million train km, even better than many European systems. In this regard, it is interesting to study the International Railways safety performance data published annually by the UIC (International Union of Railways). The latest UIC report (2023) has data for almost all the railway systems of Europe, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. The data is for Significant Accidents, by definition, “any accident involving at least one rail vehicle in motion”.
In 2022, in the rail systems of 35 countries, 1,888 significant rail accidents were recorded, which works out to 0.39 accidents per million train km. Compared to that, IR’s record is 0.03 per million train km in 2022. Interestingly, the data calculation by UIC for those countries differs slightly in terms of the occurrences and incidents taken as accidents: Individuals hit by a train 59 per cent, collision with an obstacle at level Xings 24 per cent, collision between trains 1 per cent, derailments 7 per cent, falling from train 3 per cent, shunting operation 4 per cent, other 1.7 per cent. Statistics consider staff injuries, trespassing and falling from trains also as significant accidents. The IR, which is on its way to becoming a world-class system, may consider some of these global practices and standards of safety.
The Indian Railways is the largest such system under a government in terms of passenger traffic. Its network has crossed 1,00,000 running track kilometres, and it is about to become fully electrified. It is on track to achieving unprecedented growth in both passenger and freight traffic segments, despite selling passenger services below cost by a unique cross-subsidy mechanism. Its ordinary working expenses also finance its growing staff costs and fuel bills — an incredible business model.
With all the outstanding work, the railways can ill-afford to have accidents involving the loss of precious lives. It is time to focus on collisions now without waiting for the KAVACH.
The writer is a senior adviser, the World Bank and former member, Traffic, Railway Board. Views are personal
