Fire mishaps on trains continue, safety drives fail

Despite a number of safety drives carried out by railways, fire accidents continue to take place, raising serious questions over the effectiveness of the national transporter's preparedness.
There were 10 major fire incidents on trains since 2012 which claimed 65 lives besides causing a damage to the railways to the tune of around Rs 8 crore.
Realising the seriousness of the situation, the railways is now planning to introduce an Australian technology to make fire alarms efficient.
Nine passengers were charred to death today when three non-AC coaches of Bandra-Dehradun Express caught fire in the wee hours in Thane, the second such incident in the last fortnight.

There was also a minor fire incident today in the Lucknow Shatabdi due to brake jam. Smoke started emanating from the wheels of the Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express triggering panic among train passengers in the morning at Ghaziabad station today.
Earlier on December 28, an air-conditioned coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express train caught fire in the early hours in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh, killing 26 people and injuring 13 others.
On Jun 30, 2012, 35 passengers were killed and 25 others injured when a coach of the Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
Though railways claim to have taken various measures to prevent fire in trains, recurrence of such mishaps on regular basis is a matter of concern for the government.