Could Rlys have saved lives at Khagaria, and many more?

Official version states that reason for mishap is lack of information exchange between Indian Railways and local administration

Recently, in Khagaria district of Bihar, a speeding train ran over and killed 28 people, the toll stated by Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament. According to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the death toll stood at 37.

The incident has raised questions over the Indian Railway’s safety management initiatives, yet again. The blame for the accident was pinned on “lack of coordination between local authorities and the railways”.

In a draft report to be submitted to the railway ministry, an inquiry committee constituted to investigate the accident had concluded lack of coordination had led to the tragedy, said an official. Experts, however, question the validity of this theory. “It’s the usual round of blame game in which the railways wants to shrug off its share of responsibility,” said a former Railway Board chairman on condition of anonymity.

“The Katyani temple where the devotees were heading to is becoming increasingly popular. There was a turn that hindered the visibility for the driver and he could not see the crowd of people,” said an East Central Railways official. Officials said the local administration was in charge of providing the railways information of local melas and an increase in crowds during the festive season.

A railway expert rubbished the claims. “The station master and commercial inspector are expected to know about the local traffic and local melas. Sadly, this practice has been given a go-by and you wouldn’t find the guidelines for this in the railway training and operation manuals anymore,” he said.

Many have raised concern over the lack of a systematic approach in keeping traffic records and monitoring an increase in local traffic around level crossings and railway tracks. They insist even without local authorities informing it, the railways should keep a tab on an increase in traffic due to melas or local festivals.

The Indian Railways Corporate Safety Plan (2003-2014), which aims to reduce accidents and passenger fatality, has a total outlay of Rs 31, 385 crore. The programme envisages upgrading rolling stock and the signalling system, along with training staff. There is no official version on how the funds have been used, or whether they have been used at all.

A railways report on safety performance claims in line with global standards, a continuous fall in the number of train accidents per million train km was seen---from 5.5 in 1960-61 to 0.13 in 2011-12. However, the number of accidents at level crossings saw a jump---from 61 accidents in 2011-12 to 448 in 2012-13. Some reports claim the number of rail accident deaths every year is about 14,000.

“While it is important for expressways to build crossways either underground or elevated, there is still no compulsion for the Indian Railways to build crossways,” said an official. Better coordination, planning and efficiency would have saved many lives, not only at Khagaria, but across the country.