For a change of track

Rail mishaps are not an uncommon occurrence in India, but rarely does one see heads roll at the very top. After the August 19 mishap when the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed near Muzaffarnagar and killed over 20 people, the Railway Board chairman and member (engineering) were sent packing. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has offered to resign, but the Prime Minister has asked him to wait rather than reject his offer outright — an indication that the latter is not pleased with the functioning of the railways. A couple of missives from the PMO earlier this year made this apparent. While the resignation of top officials marks a shift towards more accountability, overhauling processes is just as important. It is a moot point whether replacing Prabhu will improve matters. It is important to note while the deaths due to derailments, at 193 in 2016-17 (one accident near Kanpur alone claimed over 140 lives in November 2016), were the highest in at least a decade, the number of accidents has been steadily on the decline, from nearly 200 in 2007-08 to 104 in the last fiscal, according to an analysis by Indiaspend.com. However, the analysis is a pointer to an area of concern — both the number of derailments and casualties have been on the rise in the last three years even as the total number of accidents has fallen.

Derailments occur due to wear and tear of track, rolling stock and human error. The 15th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, presented this month, points out that more than half the accidents are on account of lapses on the part of the railway staff, of which the chief is loco-pilots missing signals. There is a persistent shortage of loco pilots, with nearly 19,000 vacancies out of over 95,000 posts. As a result, loco-pilots are overworked and prone to error, more so with trains these days running at higher speeds and signals cropping up virtually every kilometre. As for damaged tracks, the committee observes that out of a track length of 1.15 lakh km, 4,500 km should be renewed annually, but no more than half of that is generally carried out. In all, of the 7.46 lakh posts for safety, 1.22 lakh posts remain vacant. Rationalisation of railways’ staff does not seem to have worked.

On the technology side, a shift to LHB coaches that do not pile up on top of each other in the event of derailment should be expedited. In a welcome move, Budget 2017-18 announced the creation of Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh with a fund of ₹1 lakh crore to be used over five years. However, it is important to focus on operational aspects such as allowing maintenance staff leeway to hold up traffic even if that implies train delays. Confusion on this count seems to have played a role in recent mishaps. A separate post for Member (Safety) needs to be created in the Railway Board. Command and control with respect to safety must take precedence over all else.

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