Red signals for the Railways

Balasore tragedy highlights poor safety protocols

India’s worst train crash in decades highlights the problem of misplaced priorities in the Indian Railways, which gives precedence to investment in projects such as high-speed Vande Bharat trains and bullet trains over basic safety and maintenance. Though a detailed report is awaited, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the root cause of the three-train crash in Balasore, Odisha, was a flaw in the electronic interlocking system. This caused the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, going to Chennai, to run into a goods train on the same track and derail. Another passenger train, the Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast, headed in the opposite direction, then crashed