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Safety issues plague Indian Railways Background Safety issues in the Indian railways continue to be a major concern.A study of railway accidents during 2009 - 2014 indicated that a large chunk of accidents were due to derailments and accidents at level crossings.Despite number of accidents dropping every year, nonetheless there were 52 derailments last year.However, number of passenger casualties has significantly dropped since 2012-13. Cause for accidents Fact Between 2009-2014, there were a total of 313 derailments and 293 level crossing accidents. Human error accounted for 86% of total accidents! Amongst these, 40% accidents were due to failure of railway staff. However equipment problems were responsible for only 2.2% of total accidents.
Jhelum Express derails; throws off train travel in Punjab 04 Oct 2016 In the early hours of Tuesday morning, ten coaches of the Jhelum Express train derailed 125kms from Chandigarh.The train had 24 coaches and was en route to Pune when the incident occurred.Three passengers were injured and were required to be hospitalized.Jhelum Express's derailment threw rail traffic out of gear across the North Railways sector and dozens of trains were cancelled. Cause of derailment Fact Railway authorities have for now ruled out any evidence of sabotage. A possibility that seems likely is negligence on part of the railway authorities with respect to track maintenance and other undetected technical snags.
What transpired after? Details Rail traffic on the line was suspended and is likely to be restored by evening; other trains plying on the same track will be diverted via different routes.According to Railway sources, a high-level inquiry has already been constituted to identify the cause of the derailment.Rescue and relief teams reached immediately and technical experts also reached the site soon after. Major tragedy averted Fact The Jhelum-Express derailed just 50 metres before a bridge over Sutlej river. A derailment over the bridge would have led to massive casualties and significantly worse damage. The train was also at a slow-speed as it had pulled out of Phillaur station after a halt.
Disarray in Northern railways train schedule What happened? The track on which Jhelum Express derailed is a very crucial route as it connects all important cities in north India such as Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Jammu with the country's capital, New Delhi.According to local reports, the railways has cancelled nearly 81 trains and suspended traffic on both sides on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar section as both tracks were blocked due to the derailed coaches. PMO warns Railways, asks to fix safety issues 22 Feb 2017 In the wake of several railway accidents that left over 225 dead, the Prime Minister's Office has written to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, indicating displeasure with the department's performance.It mentions the severe gap between proposed targets of 2016 and actual work done.After providing an impressive budget of Rs. 1,31,000cr, the letter asked railways to "justify higher allocation in the next budget". Railways' deteriorating performance? Fact Railways started using 50% of its planned expenditure only in the last quarter. In 2016, as opposed to a target of 1,500 km, only 531 km was achieved. Against an electrification target of 2,000 km; only 1,210 km was covered.
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