Finding solutions to train accidents

One image from the train accident where 23 persons were killed and many others injured, when 14 coaches of the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express jumped the rails in Khatauli near Muzaffarnagar, that provided some food for thought out is of a man standing on the top of one of the coaches and clicking a selfie with another overturned coach in the background. Tragedy, apparently, does not stop one from taking a little memento to show back home. Perhaps hundreds of those who turned up at the accident site, or were in the train, whipped out their cell phones to click a picture of themselves at the site, a picture that would be later uploaded on social media sites.

But it was not just that one man, or the many others, who wanted something to talk about once he got home. The politicians having had their say, by expressing their grief and pain at the accident, went a step further with some of them extracting some political mileage out of the tragedy by announcing that party cadres will be involved in the rescue operation. A rescue operation should be undertaken by experts, persons who are trained in the exercise. A sudden rush of persons who have never handled an emergency situation turning up at the site of a tragedy can create hurdles, rather than aid in the rescue.

The rescue apart, what about the way forward and means of reducing train accidents? Train accidents take hundreds of lives every year, with three persons being killed in Kerala a day after this accident, when a train hit them. This is the fourth major train accident this year. Early this year 39 people died when seven coaches of the Hirakhand Express derailed in the forest areas of Andhra Pradesh. A few months before this, in November 2016, a train accident at Kanpur had led to the death of 149 people. But on the day of the accident, and the immediate next, there were no solutions to ending train accidents emerging.

The cause of the accident is being investigated, and in the early stages a terror angle had not been ruled out, though later unofficial reason given was of track maintenance and human error. The Railway minister has ordered an inquiry, is monitoring the situation and assured he will take strict action in case of a lapse. He, in fact, wanted that responsibility be fixed immediately based on prima facie. After every railway accident an investigation is ordered, the government compensates the injured and the families of the deceased, but there appears that there is little that is done to make the railways and the tracks safer. It is, however, strange that while train accidents are given much media coverage, the inquiry report on the accident and the recommendations are seldom made public.

What then are the solutions? Over the years many have been proffered, including unmanned scout locomotives that would go ahead of the fast trains and be equipped to detect damaged tracks and if these were found to send back a signal to the train. If the unofficial version of track maintenance is the reason for the accident in Khatauli, then scout locomotives could be a possible answer, though there have been many questions raised about their viability. Human error too can be reduced.

Derailments, collisions, accidents at level crossings are increasing. Every year the Railway Ministry adds new trains. It should also ensure that the infrastructure for the new trains exists, and that the railway tracks are not burdened. It should also invest in finding permanent solutions to the many accidents on its tracks, besides the beautification of railway stations that it undertakes. Safety on the tracksis more important than a beautiful station.