You embark on a train journey assuming you will reach the destination safe and sound. The recent spate of rail accidents puts a question mark on that presumption. It is high time the Railways streamlined its depreciation reserve fund mechanism — an issue flagged by former railway ministers, financial commissioners and board members. This fund, used to maintain assets such as tracks, bridges, wheels, coaches, wagons, has generally been tinkered with to show a good operating ratio or profitability. This year is not going to be any different, with indications of the depreciation fund being slashed by at least a third. It is in this context that the proposal to implement a special railway safety surcharge with a dedicated grant from the finance ministry of the kind implemented during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and one that has been discussed multiple times, makes sense.

The finance ministry, while providing a grant to be spent on identified asset renewal mechanisms, also raises a portion of the grants from various railway users. Moreover, the fund will be non-lapsable. Funds have to come through a government grant or through tariff collection from users: a non-negotiable approach is required to make them available for safety purposes. As for ensuring safety, some Railway officials point out that there is a need for automation given that the tracks now comprise longer rails and sleepers are much heavier. They also stress the need to have automated maintenance, which will ensure good service in a shorter time. There is also a shortage of loco-pilots, who end up driving trains in difficult conditions. Locomotives don’t even have toilets.Track gangmen, who walk along the tracks, are expected to do much more arduous tasks than before. The Government needs to consider all these issues and carefully balance out its conflicting aims of job creation, skilling existing resources, and automation.

Mamuni Das Deputy Editor

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