St Thomas Mount Railway Accident: Ignored warnings lead to 17 ‘incidents’ in 20 years

Senior Southern Railway (SR) officials said  that as many as 17 incidents have been reported at the same spot ever since the concrete fence was erected in 1998. An SR official said the Chennai Railway Division was long aware that there was some serious flaw that caused the ‘incidents’ over the years. 

A senior officer from the safety and security wing disclosed that the spot had claimed 10 lives, including the six reported this week. Even a few officials within the zonal railway headquarters refused to buy the official statement from the carrier that footboard travel and tangling of shoulder bags with the concrete fence caused the ‘incident’ at Mount station. 

“Schedule of Moving Dimension on the spot might be within standards. But if it is repeatedly causing accidents, it must be reviewed. Rule [on this] was made only to prevent accidents like the ones at St Thomas Mount. Officials have held on to the letter of the rule dearly and blamed commuters, though they were aware that it was inadequate,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.  

Ironically, the safety manual of Indian Railways may only help officials, for it treats fatalities as ‘incidents’ in which the blame largely would fall only on commuters. Unless a wheel does not slip of track (derailment) or any other component of railways is not able to establish an accident, such fatalities would only be treated as ‘incidents’. 

“They ought to amend the rules and remove the fence if it is killing people or they should stop operating EMUs on the line. Officers concerned should shake off the bureaucratic stupor and find practical solutions,” demanded an official. Sources added that divisional officials have proposed to reduce the height of the fence.