Derailed!

This has been one of the bloodiest years in the history of Indian Railways. Reports say that more people have died in rail accidents in 2016-17 than in almost 20 years. The January 22-accident in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh took the year’s toll to 180. Since February last year, there have been 11 railway accidents in the country, eight of them because of derailment.

The recent investigation into the accidents has revealed a sabotage angle with the arrest of an alleged ISI agent in Nepal. But it will be foolhardy to take refuge in the sabotage theory and divert the focus from the sorry state of India’s rail network. It is not that the leadership at Indian Railways is unaware of this. In fact, the government body is one of the few organisations that accept their lapses and publish white papers. In one such paper published in February 2015, Indian Railways said:

“IR’s network has 1,14,907 km of total track length. Of this, 4,500 km of track should be renewed annually. However, due to financial constraints, the progress in track renewals is constantly coming down over the last six years. As on 01.07.2014, 5,300 km track length is due for renewal. The target for the current year is only 2,100 km. Arrears of track renewal are accumulating which will result in disproportionately high maintenance effort. This will also result in reduced reliability of assets.”

Data scream out the risk that these stressed assets have put on lives. While collisions went up from four in the 2014 fiscal to five next year, derailments rose from 52 to 60 over the same period. Accidents increased – from 117 to 131 - and so did the number of those who got killed – from 42 to 118.

"My main concern as a safety officer is derailments which is over two-thirds of accidents," says a senior officer of the safety department of a railway zone. "As far as coaches are concerned, the problem is of technology,” he adds. The officer requested anonymity.

Most of the officials spoke to BusinessLine off the record, as they were either not authorised to talk, or were wary of identifying themselves because of the sensitive issue.

Experts say that coaches made by Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) - the only manufacturer in the country - don’t match up to the world standards when it comes to absorbing shocks and “crumble” when collision happens in high speed.

While better technology has helped make these coaches safer, Indian Railways is gradually making the transition to coaches manufactured using the Linke Hoffman Bush, or LHB technology.

“But we can't throw away the 35,000 coaches as we don't have the money to replace them. And the production ramp up of new coaches using LHB technology will take time,” said the senior safety officer.

The Bibek Debroy report on proposed restructuring of the Railways said that complete replacement of the coaches might happen only by 2040.

Indian Railways’ network might be among the top five in the world. But this network is under increasing stress. The push for more revenues, both from freight and passenger segments is showing on the rails.

Consider this. As soon as 800 gross million tonnes (GMT) of traffic passes through a rail it becomes due for replacement. Rails start ‘misbehaving’ once 500-600 GMT has passed through it. It takes about 15-20 years to reach 800 GMT. But on a very busy route, the quota is reached within 12 years. But "because of fund crunch in the Railways, preference is given to lay new lines, or go for gauge conversion and not for replacement," says the senior officer of the safety department of a railway zone.

"There are no funds for track renewal, more is given to amenities such as escalators at stations which do not see even 100 passengers using it," says a senior officer from the electrical department.

“More than 100 per cent capacity utilisation is not alarming because with modern track machines it is possible to maintain tracks," said Subodh Jain, former member of the Engineering Railway Board. “However, the increase in capacity utilisation is done by cutting down on maintenance time,” he adds.

It is not that the Railways doesn’t have a protocol for maintenance. Sushil Chandra, Commissioner of Railway Safety Western Zone, which investigates accidents related to passengers, says: "We point out deficiencies in maintenance which they do implement. IR systems and procedures are well defined, documented and distributed that if one follows them there is hardly any chance of an accident."

That if though, is a big one. Most of the railway employees that BusinessLine spoke to accepted that track maintenance was not being adequately done.

But why is it so difficult to maintain these rail tracks?

As per the rule books, 3-4 hours should be allotted for daily maintenance of tracks, called blocks in industry jargon. But the white paper, which was mentioned above, found that only five out of the 16 railway zones asked for the stipulated amount of block hours. The remaining 11 zones asked for only 89 per cent of the stipulated time.

The reason could be many. Train delays, for instance, leaves the Operations department in a quandary. Should it allow the delayed train to ply, or permit the scheduled line block for maintenance? “If it is a one-off case it is OK. Imagine the situation happening daily,” said a locomotive pilot.

Also, each division (every Indian Railway zone is divided into divisions) has to meet its freight targets. The targets are measured in average wagon balance (AWB) and divisional wagon balance (DWB). A high balance on both the counts indicates low efficiency. The drive for more revenues means that the focus is to increase the freight traffic, and this cuts into the blocks needed for maintenance.

“Over time, due to political compulsions trains have been regularly infringing the block with the ideal requirement of 3-4 hours a day shrinking to less than two hours,” said a senior official.

It doesn’t help that maintenance is at the bottom of the list when it comes to budget allocation. In an interview with BusinessLine in 2015 , Sunil Kumar Sood, the then General Manager of Central Railway, pointed out that just seven paisa of each rupee earned by the Railways goes for maintenance and procurement of materials and machines.

A senior material manager, however, said that Indian Railways has a sound system for procurement and stocking. "For items that are regularly in demand and need to be in stock, we plan their procurement a year in advance. Divisions, depots and workshops can procure materials for up to ₹15 lakh. Even after having so much powers to procure, what will one do if people complain?"

Officials pointed out two more issues regarding maintenance – lack of coordination between departments and poor infrastructure.

The Engineering department is responsible for laying and maintaining the tracks. But its priorities might not match that of the Operations division, which is under pressure to utilise the capacity (read rails) as much as possible to maximise revenues. Often, the block might be allotted at night. But “many times the Engineering department is not willing to work at night,” said the senior official. “The only solution is to make the traffic department (which is in charge of operations) accountable for block every month," says a senior signal engineer.

While that debate continues, officials also berate about the quality of infrastructure – both the rails and the equipment to maintain them.

“After a recent derailment of a Duronto Express (in 2015, the LTT-Ernakulam Duronto Express had derailed south of Madgaon), new rails were supplied. But when the Engineering department thoroughly checked, the rails had to be replaced. The CMD (of Konkan Railway)himself told us in a meeting. They changed the entire track and only then ran trains above 50 kmph," said Venu P Nair, Vice-president of railway union AIRF. “Now the maintenance is mostly machine-based, but even they require a block of 2.5- 3 hours — 4 hours is ideal per day. Machines sometimes break down in the block sections and is one of the reasons that blocks granted are not utilised," adds a senior official.

Lack of maintenance and poor machines increase the stress on rails, leading to problems such as fractures and weld failures. Fractures occur due to sudden temperature difference in the rails, due to change in climate. Cracks can also develop if the track ballast — the metal stones that cushion the rails — are not packed properly.

Weld failures occur when enough time is not given for the tracks to cool down after they are welded together.

Critics also point out the inefficient use of manpower when it comes to maintenance. Indian Railways uses ultrasonic flaw detection (USFD) technology to detect rail fractures.

In this, a wave is passed every 20 minutes from one end of the rail across a sectional length of one km. At the other end of the rail is a receiver. “If the receiver fails to receive the wave, then there is a flaw in the rail. An SMS would be sent to the control room giving details of section/line/km. Sending men to patrol can be done only once a day," said Jain, the former member of the Engineering Railway Board.

But officials say patrol men were not given SIM cards to report cases of fractures or failures. "See the irony. Do you think officers in the Railway Board do not know this fact that a patrolman has to be given a SIM card. What safety are we talking about?" asks Nair, the union leader.

He points out the lack of shunting staff, who often put in double and triple duty and are over- stressed. "On an average 13 Railway men lose their lives on the tracks each day," said Nair.

Corrections in system and better infrastructure can make the rails safer. For instance, often electrification of a single track is given preference over making it a double-track. Usually, it is easier to maintain a double-track, and electrification should done only after doubling the line, say officials.

The transition of coach has to be faster, said the senior safety officer. “Within six months, Railways should stop using the old coaches. And within 10 years, only LHB coaches should be used for Mail and Express trains,” he said.

He adds that technology should be used extensively to reduce human errors, such as SPAD (signal passing at danger, or when the light is red), or when the station master errs in setting the route and in closing the crossing gates.

Railways employees observed that often staff meant to take care of the tracks are deployed as orderlies of officers and supervisors. Also, “vacancies for safety related staff is increasing in engineering, mechanical, operating departments, who are unable to fill the seats,” said Nair. More people on the ground would improve the quality and safety of the tracks. Till then, it is a red signal.

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