More train accidents to come? Indian Railways will take 40 YEARS for track revamp :
As the Indian Railways grapple to deal with deteriorating safety standards, train mishaps have gone up steeply this year.
Worse, the situation is unlikely to improve for the next 40 years, at least.
The year 2016 has so far seen 62 train derailments as compared to 37 incidents during the same period in 2015, showing a rise of nearly 70 per cent in one year
While the railway ministry claims to be focusing on strengthening of tracks, the target cannot be achieved anytime soon.
According to a railway ministry official, the total length of rail tracks is 1.18 lakh km and renewal of the entire network at the present target of 2,950 km per year will take at least 40 years to complete.
In 2016-17, the railway ministry had revised the target for renewal of tracks from 1,028 km to 2,950 km.
However, given the sluggish pace of work, it will take at least 2-3 years to meet the target.
This assumes significance in wake of the horrific accident of the Patna–Indore Express near Kanpur last Sunday that killed 149 people and left over 200 injured.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu had told the Parliament that old ICF coaches lacking crash-worthy characteristics were responsible for the accidents.
But senior officials said old tracks, mostly corroded due to discharge of human waste on tracks, also led to such accidents.
This also comes at a time the railway ministry is aggressively pushing for introducing high-speed trains in India including the first bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Nine other routes have been identified for upgrading the speed of trains to 200 km per hour.
A senior Railway Board official said that paucity of funds is a major factor for the slow pace of work.
According to estimates, the railways need Rs 1.2 lakh crore for overhauling its safety infrastructure that include constructing new rail bridges by demolishing the old ones, besides repair and maintenance of bridges and tracks.
The existing signalling system also requires upgrade, while the ministry is also in the process of introducing safety-related technologies to avert rail accidents.
These technologies are under trial for several years, but have not been introduced yet.
These include the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS), train collision avoidance system (TCAS), and automatic fire and smoke detection system that are undergoing trials in different zones.
Railways has recently issued tenders for procurement of GPS-based sensor devices called 'Trinetra' that will alert loco-pilots of any physical disruption on tracks well in advance.
"Shortage of fund is a major hurdle in the revamp of the track and signaling system. While the ministry spends over Rs 55,000 crore on safety, it does not have a separate fund for the same.
"Railways has also urged the finance ministry for a separate fund under the rail safety head," said a railway official.
So far, the railway ministry has also failed to implement the recommendations of the Anil Kakodkar - led rail safety review committee's report in 2012.
The committee had given 106 recommendations, the most notable being complete elimination of level crossings at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore.
Casualties from surface crossing accidents account for 65 per cent of all deaths and 38 per cent of injuries arising from all consequential accidents on the tracks.
Out of the 106 recommendations, the ministry had accepted 69 suggestions and 19 others partially.
However, work has started on only 22 of these measures in the last five years.
The committee was constituted in 2012 and the recommendations were to be implemented in five years.
The Kakodkar Committee had also suggested a switch from ICF design coaches to LHB design coaches which are much lighter and inflict less damage in case of mishaps.
EmoticonEmoticon