GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Infrastructure (Railways)
Source: TH
Context: The tragic Odisha train accident that resulted in the death of over 288 passengers has brought into sharp focus the safety mechanisms needed to prevent such tragedies.
Why do train accidents happen in India?
The Performance Audit on Derailment in Indian Railways – a CAG (2022) report ascertains whether measures to prevent derailments and collisions were clearly laid down and implemented.
Findings in the CAG audit report:
- The main reason behind train accidents in India is
- For example, out of 217 “consequential train accidents” – that have serious repercussions in terms of either loss of human life/injury or loss of Railway property/traffic interruption, 163 (75%) were due to derailments during 2017-18 to 2020-21.
- Factors responsible for derailments are maintenance of tracks, deviation of track parameters beyond permissible limits, bad driving and overspeeding, and faulty signalling system (suspected cause of the Odisha train accident).
Some initiatives of the Indian govt. to prevent train accidents:
The KAVACH:
- It is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian industry.
- It provides protection by preventing trains from passing the signal at Red and activates the train’s braking system automatically (if the driver jumps the Red signal) and avoids collision.
- The Traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) helps in two-way communication between the station master and loco-pilot to convey any emergency message.
- Both the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and the Yeshwanthpur-Howrah Express were not fitted with KAVACH-TCAS.
The Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK):
- It was created in 2017-18 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of five years with an annual outlay of Rs 20,000 crore – Rs 15,000 crore of budgetary support and Rs 5,000 crore from Railways internal resources).
- The safety fund will be used for improved inspection and safety work at level crossing, track repair, bridge restoration, rolling stock replacement, human resource development, etc.
- The number of funds allocated for track renewal projects decreased from Rs 9,607.65 crore (2018-19) to Rs 7,417 crore (2019-20), and even this amount was not “fully utilised”.
| Way ahead | |
| Anil Kakodkar Committee on Railway Safety (2012) | The adoption of an Advanced Signalling System (akin to the European Train Control System) for the entire trunk route within 5 years. A switch over from the ICF design coaches to the much safer LHB design coaches. |
| Bibek Debroy Committee on Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway Projects (2015) | Creation of a separate safety department within Indian Railways, development of a comprehensive safety plan, utilisation of technology for safety enhancements, improvement in track maintenance practices, and enhancement of safety training programs. |
| CAG Audit Report on Derailments (2022) | To ensure timely implementation of maintenance activities by adopting fully mechanised methods and improved technologies for track maintenance. |
| To prepare guiding principles for the deployment of RRSK funds for each item of safety work. | |
| To ensure strict adherence to the scheduled timelines for conducting and finalising accident inquiries. | |
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