Ministry report identifies staff faliure as biggest cause of rail accidents

A task force on safety was formed in Dec last year after a derailment killed 151 people near Kanpur

Failure of Railway staff is the biggest cause behind train accidents and derailments that have led to maximum deaths and injuries to passengers, said a safety report submitted to Railway Ministry.

Railway has constituted a task force on safety on December 6 last year after the derailment near Kanpur, killing 151 people.

The committee comprising senior railway officials involved in safety mechanism was asked to conduct data analysis of the investigation into the past accidents and developed a "factual view of potential solutions."

The report submitted recently has categorically stated the failure of railway staff is the biggest cause in 50 to 60 per cent cases, and derailments cause maximum deaths and injuries.

According to the report, asset failures like track defects such as rail fracture and inadequate maintenance remain the biggest cause of accidents.

Taking note of the increasing number of derailments due to rail-fractures and weld failures, it has suggested a need to address the backlog in rail/track renewals and the technology of rail welding.

Advocating technology upgradation to have less dependence on human intervention, the report said "Inspection of Rails is a complex exercise and must be automated as much as possible to reduce dependence on human judgement.