The Hindu Business Line : Railways: Too much on the track

THE Indian Railways appears to have hit a roadblock of sorts in its headlong rush to modernise and upgrade technology in all areas, including the vital track maintenance. Though proud owners of over 500 track machines of various types and sizes, the field engineers of over 18 zones are seldom able to use them to their optimum capacity, in some instances for not more than a couple of hours a day.

For there are too many trains occupying the tracks and many more are being added every year.

Number of train km, per track km, per day — an indicator of track occupancy and hence density of traffic — in 1950-51 was 7.1 for passenger and 5.2 for freight trains. Over the next 40 years, it rose by a modest 60 per cent and 63 per cent for passenger and freight respectively. However, in the next 12 years, while the increase in the number of goods trains was a mere 7 per cent, that of passenger trains soared by a whopping 37 per cent.

Over the last decade and a half alone, more than 1,000 new trains, some with the runs extended or frequency increased from weekly to bi-weekly, have been gifted away to MPs and MLAs to boost their local popularity. On certain sections, for instance, the 124-km Mughalsarai to Dehri-on-Sone stretch, no less than 50 passenger and 30 goods trains criss-cross every day.

In spite of being a double-line section, it hardly leaves any leeway for a track machine to zip in and out in between two trains to carry out any meaningful maintenance work. A drastic cut-back in the induction of passenger trains for the next few years appears inescapable, if `safety' in train operations does not end up as a mere slogan.

According to a White Paper on Safety released by the former Railways Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, a couple of years ago, derailments are the single biggest problem of the railways, and the cause of 75 per cent of all train accidents. Accidents at level crossings account for 16 per cent, of which 4 per cent are at manned ones , followed by collisions (7 per cent) and, last but not the least, fire (2 per cent).Unfortunately, fires and collisions end up hogging the limelight as they invariably involve loss of lives and become instant grist for the media. Quick-fix solutions are offered and eagerly grabbed by the harassed Minister, in the form of an anti-collision device (ACD), insurance policies such as Suraksha Kavach, and a host of other gizmos, all costing the moon and some of them of dubious value. The Railway Board mandarins promptly ask for and get ample funds to replace worn-out rails, phase out over-aged rolling stock, and every one is happy.

Meanwhile, the poor passenger boards a train placing his faith in God, blissfully unaware of when and where the next train derailment will occur. At Khanna in Punjab, a few years ago, one of the flawed rails fractured resulting in a simple derailment involving Sealdah Express A detailed probe identified the absence of basic safety equipment, poor track maintenance and the use of substandard steel as the main reasons for the accident. This would normally have gone unnoticed and un-reported, even by the media, except within a few minutes, the Golden Temple express running on the `up' track smashed into the derailed coaches. The resultant loss of lives and injuries to the passengers were immense.

The major trunk routes of the Indian Railways have, over the years, lost all flexibility. The system can no longer take care of any fluctuations in the throughput so vital for maintaining top operational efficiency. A minor hold up or delay and the ripple effect invariably ends up playing havoc with the train schedules, and `punctuality' frequently becomes the casualty.

The Railway system has to build new arteries to enhance the level of traffic which can be moved on critical sections. This is invariably achieved by converting a single to double, then triple, and may be even quadruple line on congested sections. Enhancing alternative routes has the same effect as carrying out a by-pass surgery, and is often resorted to where acquisition of land adjacent to the existing alignment is not feasible.

Over the years, inputs get organised more as a result of knee-jerk reactions to crises situations. For instance, it was only when serious riots broke out on the Western Railway's suburban network almost a decade ago, that a fifth line was added to the age-old quadruple track between Santacruz and Bombay Central. This is now being extended to Borivili and, soon, a sixth line all the way from Borivili to Bombay Central may become a reality, serving the commuters on this vital section of the Western Railways for the next decade and beyond.

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), set up in January 2003 with much fan-fare, was charged with creating additional line capacity in critical areas on the Golden Quadrilateral with its diagonals and to provide connectivity to a host of new ports. The Railway Board mandarins have now washed their hands off 56 projects under the Rail Vikas Yojana and handed them over for execution to RVNL, which is now busy mobilising resources from the domestic market, through public partnership or BOT schemes.

However, till it gets its act together, it would be prudent for the Railways Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, to go slow in announcing new trains which would further clog the already crowded tracks. Getting a grip on track maintenance so vital to make any dent in the incidence of derailments by allowing more time for the track machines to do their job, appears top priority now.

(The author is a former Member of the Railway Board.)

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