Rail safety derailed

The country's railway system is badly overstretched... Making it safer will require political resolve, more dedication by officials, and a dash of luck, writes Sandeep Dikshit.

EVERY MAJOR train accident involving a heavy toll of lives invariably spawns a fresh round of Railway-bashing. The latest accident near Kozhikode is no different. The various warts that the Indian Railways has lived with all these years have been unrelentingly exposed - half of the one lakh bridges on its network are of 19th century vintage, 12,000 km of overaged tracks have not been replaced, some 35,000 over-the-hill coaches and wagons are still in active service and there are glaring vacancies in several categories of staff including drivers.

But while bringing out these inadequacies, very little effort has gone into attempting to view the Railways as part of the mosaic of the Indian state whose every institution is crumbling due to shortage of money and slack administration. In this situation, the Railways appears to be doing a wonderful job. It unfailingly transports the equivalent of five Indias (500 crore passengers) to their destinations every year, moves security forces and their equipment from one end of the country to the other and ferries over 400 million tonnes of raw material for power plants, iron & steel and grain.

How does the Indian Railways compare with similar systems in other parts of the world? Shortage of funds appears to be a common malaise even in developed countries and it takes a numbing accident to put the spotlight on this aspect. For instance, an ``Indian-type'' accident in late 1999 outside Paddington station in London left 50 dead. An inquiry into the crash between an express and a slow moving train found that neither the Government which owned the British Railways three years ago nor its new private owners was ever willing to make major investments in safety.

Despite these similarities with other systems and the Indian Railways' proven proficiency in keeping the country's power plants and other infrastructure sectors running, there is little doubt that the system is creaking. The Ghani Khan Chowdhurys, the Paswans and the Jaffer Shariefs, who were in charge of the Ministry at various times in the past, squeezed the Railways to appease their political friends and suit their interests. Gauge conversion, begun with gusto but without any planning, bled the Railways dry. New projects were announced in every budget despite full knowledge that the lack of funds will mean that the progress will be fitful and halting.

While derailment of goods trains results in disruption for a day or two, it is accidents involving passenger trains which bring the Railways into the media glare. Here also Ministers have to take the blame. New trains are announced without commensurate facilities to service them. As a result, trains depart after only a cursory examination.

For instance, the frequency of the Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani was increased in 1997. But the 39 men required to look after it were allotted only after three years. Similarly, 19 personnel were required for the maintenance of the weekly Rajdhani to Patna which started in 1996. Their appointment also took close to three years. This aspect was exposed only after the then Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, had antagonised Railway officers by transferring a few of them following an accident. Otherwise, the Railways quietly takes such shortages in its stride and makes do with the men and material available at its command.

Internal reports reveal that there are inadequate facilities for examining the undergear of coaches. More trains appear on the timetables every year leading to pressure on pitlines. According to estimates, two- fifths of the trains are not provided maintenance of the required six hours and some of them are not even provided pitline maintenance.

According to latest estimates, an average of eight per cent vacancies exist with regard to the staff in the safety category. The situation is more critical in the most important segment of this category - drivers. In three Railway zones, the shortfall of drivers varies between 16 and 20 per cent leading to 21 per cent of drivers working for more than the required 10 hours.

There is a similar shortfall in safety training. Test audits in the past have revealed a shocking state of affairs with some of the running staff professing complete ignorance about some vital safety-related features. The Railways has a well spread out system comprising 11 zonal training centres and 33 division level schools. But shortfall of training staff varied between 20 and 30 per cent.

This is reflected in the accident figures. At least one-third of the accidents are caused due to the failure of Railway staff. Another one- third are caused because of defects in rolling stock or the tracks. Rail fractures have also become widespread because of excess use of line capacity. The Railways is also being forced to press on with overaged rolling stock although it has a Neutral Coach and Wagon Superintendent (NCWS) in every workshop. It is well known that the NCWS rejects a large number of coaches and wagons but more than half of the rejected rolling stock is passed out to the open line locally to keep the Railways running. Downsizing is also having an impact. Unions are known to frequently complain at the local level that many critically required categories are not filled.

In other words, the system is badly overstretched. The number of passengers taking to rail travel is increasing at the rate of five per cent every year. This consistent year-on-year increase is perhaps the highest in the world. Since the population is increasing, so is the responsibility of the Railways in transporting grain and other goods. The law and order situation continues to worsen leading to more Railways tracks from Jammu to the Northeast coming under threat. Also, more and more troops have to be ferried to the latest trouble spot.

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? The Railways can become safer but it will require a combination of political resolve, more dedication by officials and a dash of luck. Also, the Government has to be firm in warding off attempts by the uninformed to tamper with the system under the garb of liberalisation. One does not have to go far to see what restructuring under the IMF-World Bank influence has done to the Pakistan Railways.

Fortunately for the Railways, it currently has a Minister in Mr. Nitish Kumar who is well versed with the system. He had completed major theoretical exercises towards improving the system during his previous stint in the Ministry to acquaint himself with the ills plaguing the network.

Known to be averse to playing to the gallery, Mr. Kumar is understood to be discreetly and gingerly attempting to bring about changes. He is fortunate that most of the present crop of Railway Board members have extensive field experience. Together they may turn the tide provided the Central Government is generous with its purse.

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