Editorial: Derailing turns de rigueur

In a painful reminder of the infrastructural shortcomings still plaguing the Indian Railways, as many as ten people were killed and 41 injured after a goods train rammed into the stationary Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express in West Bengal's Darjeeling district on Monday. Following the mishap, the chairperson of the Railway Board had hinted at the possibility of human error causing the accident and said the collision occurred as the goods train disregarded the signal. Initial findings indicated that the goods train driver violated signal regulations and failed to adhere to operational norms of the faulty automatic signal system.

However, the loco pilot's association has countered this finding stating that the automatic signalling system between Ranipatra station and Chattar Hat junction was defective since 5.50 am. And tellingly, the Railway Board official admitted that the railways' 'Kavach' or anti-collision system was not in place along the Guwahati-Delhi route where the accident took place. The latest episode involving collision of trains is yet another addition to our shameful history of railway mishaps that transpired over the past three years.

Last year in June, as many as 296 people were killed and 400 were injured when the Coromandel Express hit a goods train in Balasore, Odisha. The same year, 27 people lost their lives in train mishaps which took place in August, and twice in October. It is worth noting that during 2021-22 and 2022-23, a total of 48 and 35 consequential accidents have occurred respectively. In 2024-25, four accidents have taken place already. Ironically, despite such a questionable run of events, the railway authorities have asserted that major improvements have been made in the space of safety measures. They have even cited a significant decrease in consequential accidents from 2004-2013 to 2014-2023.

One might need to parse through these numbers to establish the ground reality. In its reply to the questions filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur, a Madhya Pradesh-based Right to Information (RTI) Act activist, the Railways said in June last year that more than 2.74 lakh posts in the Railways are lying vacant, with over 1.7 lakh of them in the safety category alone. The latter comprises workers directly involved with train operations such as loco pilots, trackspersons, pointsmen, electrical works, signal and telecom assistants, engineers, technicians, clerks, guards/train manager, station masters and ticket collectors.

The shortage of staff in key posts has been flagged by railway unions regularly. The associations have sought the creation of more posts in track maintenance, fitness, senior and junior section engineers, gangmen, and technicians. The unions have often highlighted the tremendous pressure faced by the workforce and the one on-ground staff who must cover 8-10 km daily to inspect tracks. Those looking for a silver lining might regard the interim budget 2024-25 allocating Rs 2.55 lakh crore to the railways — a raise of 5.8% over budgetary estimate (BE) levels of Rs 2.41 lakh crore for fiscal 2023-24.

But allocations are only one side of the story. There have been a few trade-offs witnessed in the roll-out of Vande Bharat trains, such as decreasing the number of general coaches and hiking up the number of AC coaches in express trains on certain sectors. This is a pain point for middle and lower income passengers who make up the bulk of the railway’s demographic. Obviously, there is a need for a perspective shift - on infrastructure, HR, amenities, and connectivity. The immediate requirement however, is enhancing safety measures and ensuring accountability within the railway administration.