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8/18/2019 13_chapter-7 to Improve Indian Railways
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AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF EMERGING ECONOMIC TRENDS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS
SINCE 1998 TO 2008
Dr.S.K.S.YADAV 255 ANUJ KUMAR
CHAPTER-7
Problems and Solutions to Improve IndianRailways
Positive Side of A Coin(Strength):
Indian Railways is the world’s largest employer and one of the biggest and busiest rail
networks in the world, carrying some 17 million people and more than one million tonnes
of freight daily. It was, however, until very recently, a loss-making organization, which
was heading for bankruptcy. Starting his term in 2004 with a budget of just $200 million
with which to save the national institution, India’s Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad
engineered a dramatic turnaround. Last year, Indian Railways’ revenue came to $6 billion.
During the visit of Railway Minister Mr. Lalu Yadav INSEAD Singapore, he told a
gathering of MBA participants, alumni and executives about his strategy for bringing the
rail network into the 21st century. Flouting prescriptions to privatize Indian Railways,
retrench staff, and increase passenger and freight fares by 20 per cent in every budget,
Prasad instead chose to keep on board 1.4 million employees and 1.1 million pensioners,
reduced fares by up to 45 per cent, and - while refusing to privatize the core business of
Indian Railways - started public-private partnerships in some peripheral areas. “We have
broken the myth that whenever any government organization runs into losses that you
privatize it and retrench the manpower … My belief is that if we have honesty, vision and
commitment to the organization.” Said Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav
Chapter-7
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It’s a strategy based on volume. While output has increased threefold, real operating costs
have fallen over the last 25 years. By increasing the capacity of a typical long-distance
train to 2000 passengers from 800, unit costs fell by 45 per cent. The practice of taking
seven days to load or unload a freight train was reduced to five, and systematic changes
have helped to rein in corruption. Garib rath trains, also known as the ‘poor man’s
chariot’, now have air-conditioning with cushioned seats and suction toilets.
Bringing down freight fares has greatly benefited local industry, Prasad says. In a country
where agriculture is the backbone of the economy, he says there is a huge role for Indian
Railways in helping farmers directly connect with markets for their goods.
“There are no markets in the places where production happens and middle men buy the
agricultural produce at cheap prices. We are going to open agricultural centers at stations
so farmers don’t have to search for markets. Through joint ventures, we will set up cold
storage and purchase points in stations, as well as freezer containers, so they can send
agricultural produce around the country and beyond. We will charge farmers appropriate
and reasonable prices. This will enrich farmers, and this increase in income will mean
they can buy the things that everyone else is buying.”
With regard to private investment, Prasad says the turnaround has piqued interest in
investing in the railways. While the private sector can play a role – in building engines
and wheels, and world-class stations, for example – Prasad insists there is absolutely no
chance of allowing privatization of the core business, “rail, running of trains, [and]
control of all the trains.” Indian Railways’ surplus earnings mean that the organization
does not have to depend on overseas development assistance from bodies such as the
Japan International Cooperation Agency to expand “JICA or no JICA - we are self-
sufficient.”
In an exclusive interview with INSEAD Knowledge, Prasad said freight trains are Indian
Railways’ “earning horse,” and he has extensive plans for expanding freight lines,
increasing their efficiency, and capturing the 60 per cent of goods that are still
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transported by road. A third line – a dedicated freight corridor – is also being constructed
to connect even the most remote areas with all ports and industrial hubs.
Prasad is also keen to help in India’s water conservation efforts, by building siphons andcanals, and – on the wasteland on either side of the 64,000 kilometers of track – pipes
with water for drinking and irrigation. He also outlined efforts to reduce fuel
consumption by building train carriages from aluminum to reduce their weight. “With the
increasing price of fuel, we have to keep an alternative in mind. Therefore, we are going
to electrify the main routes in the entire country. The (proposed civil) nuclear deal (with
the US which would allow India to develop nuclear technology to meet its growing
energy demands) – which should be reached – is also likely to help.”
With an eye to the future, Prasad says that as India’s population continues to grow, there
will be a need for more trains, more engines and wheels. “Even now, we buy wheels from
abroad. We have only two factories, and are building a third. It’s fine that these things
come from abroad but we have the skills, unemployment, and youth.” Prasad also
recommends learning from another country with a “magnanimous population” – China.
“China has gone really far ahead. We will have to learn from them
… Instead of jealousy, we should see what our neighbour is doing and copy that.”
Indian Railways’ turnaround had required a fundamental shift in mindset. As Prasad’s
adviser, Sudhir Kumar, notes: “We are not in the business of railways; we are in the
business of transportation – one of several modes of transportation, and the only way to
survive and thrive in the marketplace is to offer superior and compelling value to your
customers.”
No other form of transportation can beat the Economy of Steel Wheels on Steel Rails. For
the movement of passengers and goods in huge/large numbers there is no other mode of
transport which can do this cheaply and efficiently. As the population grows the need for
more trains would obviously arise.
China is already well ahead in the field of rail transportation and building up faster trains
and taking steps to link up to the web of the Trans Asian Railway. It is understood that
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SINCE 1998 TO 2008
Dr.S.K.S.YADAV 258 ANUJ KUMAR
India is also partaking in the endeavour to link up to the Trans Asian Railway which
could traverse overland from Singapore to Istanbul and onwards to London / Moscow etc.
Many thought that the days of the railways are over. But the reverse seems to be true.
China has a high speed maglev train from Pudong to Shanghai speeding at 450 Km per
hour. It is understood that there were plans for such a train from Shanghai to Beijing but
possibly the present financial structures may delay that project for the time being.
India is fast modernizing its railway services and support facilities. Making use of the
strategic position of most railway stations a catchments centers it could take advantage of
putting the land to commercial use as is the trend in Japan; UK; Europe and elsewhere.
The Negative Side of a Coin(Weakness):
Despite of positive side of a coin there is a negative side of this coin also. Therefore, a list
of some burning issues relating to Indian Railways is as follows:
(i) Mechanical Issues:
a. Coupling of locomotives and failures
b. Availability and failure of powers
c. Increased braking distance and its impact on operations of trains
d. Improved designs of wagons and their colour (provision of additional springs on
wagons, etc.)
e. Requirements of bankers
f . Design of 25 ton/30 ton axle load wagons within the existing standard moving
dimensions
g. Re-examination of the restriction on the axle load of BOXN HA wagons which
through designed for 23.5 tons are restricted to 20.32 tons due to the restrictionh. Modification of design of existing wagons on order to make them fit for 25 ton/30 ton
operations
(ii) Engineering - Track and Bridges relating Issues:
a. Stallings, wheel burns, instances on exit from yards, graded sections
b. Standard of maintenance required
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c. Rail stresses and reduced fatigue life, quality of grooved rubber pads. Impact on PRC
sleepers, track fittings, formation and need for formation strengthening by blanketing,
frequency of incidences of rail/weld fractures
d. Planning for track renewals for long and continuous stretches free of speed restrictions
e. USFD testing to detect rolling contact fatigue and gauge comer fatigue defects
f. Behaviour of LWR, need of distressing twice – before winter and summer seasons
g. Rail profile measurements, rail grinding
h. While the track structure for 25 ton axle load has been specified as 70 kg 90 UTS rail
of PSC sleepers 1,660 per kilometer, no track standard has yet been laid down for 30 ton
axle load. Work on this needs to be taken up by RDSO
i. Bridge capability by using non-destructive techniques for assessing capability of
bridges taking into account the design features and to identify individual bridges which
may need strengthening or which could be used with speed restriction for the high axle
load till they are strengthened.
j. The need for review of the standard of construction of all new line bridges/gauge
conversion projects now in progress where track work has not yet been done to identify
sections where the required upgrading for higher axle load can be done now itself by the
process of material modification to the sanctioned estimates.
k. There would appear to be a need to review the existing codes for design of bridges
utilizing the services of IITs and eminent consultants to study the world practices and
update our codes
l. To start with, monitoring of the effect of the haulage of 58 BOXN wagon trains with
CC+8+2 loading needs to be done with wheel impact load detectors and inspection and
checking of the effect on individual sample bridges.
(iii) Traffic relating Issues:a. Stalling of freight trains in the sections (level and graded)
b. Monitoring of overloading of wagons (CC+8+2) and weighment conditions
c. Trailing load and powering of trains
d. Requirement of bankers on graded sections
e. Operational problems of running heavier freight trains
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f. Running of coupled locomotives.
(iv) Electrical relating Issues:
a. Coupling of electrical locomotives, failures of powers due to increased load,
calculation of increased braking distance and its impact on operation of trains
b. Movement of TE and PF coupled with loco operations.
(v) S and T relating Issues:
Increased braking distances and its impact on inter-signal distances: There would be a
need to examine the impact of the heavier axle load trains on the braking distance and
location of signals to see if any modifications are required.
(vi) RDSO relating Issues:
a. Reports of wheel impact load detectors
b. Study on rail stresses based on increased track modulus calculated
c. Report of stresses on sleepers at various points
d. Report of bridge load monitoring system
e. Report of vibration signature technique to measure dynamic recording and to monitorcharacteristic and changes thereto to monitor health of bridges
f. TRC/Oscillation trials of sections carrying heavy axle load.
Other important issues are:
Overcrowding in General Compartments
Cutting Railway Lines and Stealing Fiss Plates Causing Accidents
Trains Late Arrival
Unhygienic conditions of waiting rooms
Unhygienic condition of public convenience
Railway Garbage Management
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AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF EMERGING ECONOMIC TRENDS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS
SINCE 1998 TO 2008
Dr.S.K.S.YADAV 261 ANUJ KUMAR
Some Major Problems in Detail:
Problems ensuring security
There are many limitations in providing security to the rail travelers. The sheer volume of
traffic, around 40-50 lakh people traveling on a daily basis, makes any kind of
management a nightmare. Since almost every passenger is in transit the reporting of
crimes is a serious problem too. Even if a crime is discovered early, the report can only
be made at the next station. Here too, only serious cases involving assaults and physical
harm are reported for the victim has little time to go the GRP to file an FIR. In most
cases the FIR is lodged only at the final destination of the passenger; that may be
hundreds of miles away. By the time this report is received at the police post that
has jurisdiction over the area the passenger and all the witnesses have gone home.
Except for the FIR there is virtually no other evidence to investigate the case.
In a large number of cases the victim does not even know where his bag or other
valuables have been stolen, and discovers they are missing only at the destination. This
makes it difficult to even establish the place of occurrence of the crime; that affects its
eventual investigation and prosecution. Not surprisingly, the clearance rates of crimes onrailways are very low.
Limited seats and lack of accommodation for all passengers leads to forcible entries and
‘capture’ of seats by aggressive passengers or anti-social elements. This situation also
creates opportunities for thieves to steal property. In crowded compartments it is easy for
criminal gangs to pilfer from passenger bags and carry-on. Low ratios of police to
passengers make it difficult for police to provide security to everyone. Over-crowding
creates obstacles for police personnel to travel from one coach to another; this inhibits
patrolling in the compartments and obstructs quick response to calls for help.
A major associated problem is the over-crowding and entry of a large number of people
on railway stations. In fact, most large railway stations serve as shelters for homeless
people. The entry of unauthorized coolies, vendors and a large number of illegal travelers
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or people coming to see off their friends and relatives, all lead to an unmanageable
crowding on railway platforms. These situations affect the provision of security on the
railways and makes rail travel dangerous in the country.
Fixing 'broken windows'
The problem of restoring order and controlling crime in any region is rooted in the
establishment of a modicum of civility and safety for ordinary citizens in their everyday
life. Crime is a symptom of deep rooted social-political and economic problems in which
the inability of a community to stand up for itself is perhaps most significant. The
incompetence of the enforcement agencies, disintegrated community groups, powerless
NGOs and indifferent private businesses contribute to this situation. Furthermore, their
unwillingness to cooperate and stand together is a major reason that fails to deter the
motivated offenders and provides easy opportunities to commit serious crimes. In the
United States, the term ‘Broken windows’ is used to describe this situation.
The 'broken windows' approach recognizes that serious crimes are the proverbial tip of
the iceberg; usually in areas where serious crimes are observed, one finds that beneath the
surface an enormous number of much smaller offences go unchecked and unpunished.
The thesis of broken windows argues that the key to control the crime situation is the
regeneration of the community that believes in its capacity to improve its condition. This
is brought about by understanding the situational context of problems, concentrating upon
the smaller issues of orderliness, abatement of nuisances, petty crimes and rule of law. It
is this attempt to establish basic order that begins the process of combating serious
crimes.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, Environmental Criminology andProblem Oriented Policing are some of the ways in which crime problems of similar
nature have been dealt in the US, Britain, Germany, Australia and Sweden. All these new
approaches focus upon the context in which crime occurs. Situational prevention seeks to
reduce the opportunities for specific forms of crime by increasing the effort and risk of
criminal behavior and reducing its rewards. This approach was used very successfully in
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SINCE 1998 TO 2008
Dr.S.K.S.YADAV 263 ANUJ KUMAR
the New York transit system, and subsequently to fight crime in the city itself, with
dramatic results.
Solution of this Problem:
The possible solution lies in first attending to the smaller problems and then learning
from their results to develop bigger and bolder solutions to the more serious problems of
rail travel. Since large crowds on railway platforms and within passenger coaches create
the situation for most crimes, the need is to deal with them first. Here, the experience of
handling large groups on airports could be emulated. The railways need to ensure that
entry on its premises is restricted only to bonafide passengers who have a valid ticket. In
order to safeguard a premise the entry and exit points needs to be strengthened. Several
designs have been created to control crowds.
Subway stations around the world control their premises through turnstiles where the
passenger has to place his ticket for gaining entry to the platform. These help in reducing
the need for ticket checkers who find it difficult to handle large groups. Indian railway
stations can also adopt this mechanism without incurring huge costs. The extra inspectors
could then be utilized for checking illegal entrants who may attempt to slip from other
entry points. The railways can also place strict restrictions on the amount of baggage that
passengers can carry and this too will help in cluttering the space within the
compartments as well as increasing surveillance. Once the entry of unwanted people on
the platform and coaches is controlled the other steps become easier to handle. In order to
control the entry-exit points the railways may need to redesign the stations or alter
existing gates and check points.
Considering that video cameras are now fairly affordable every station could also beinstalled with one that can record continuously for long periods of time. This will not
only act as a deterrent but also help identify habitual offenders and violators. Even the
presence of video cameras is known to deter offenders, a situation known as the
‘multiplier effect’. The technology to recognize faces has been applied by security
agencies in the US and can be developed by Indian industry as well.
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Additionally, if every traveler is properly ticketed and his particulars stored in a database,
it will become easier to identify passengers traveling in a particular coach. This
identification can in turn help police investigation of reported crimes, for the search of
suspects can be narrowed down to those traveling in the particular coach. Further, this
will also help identify those who may be causing harassment to other passengers and
wrecking railway property. It is also not too far fetched to suggest that video cameras and
communication systems could be installed in every railway coach [beginning with more
notorious trains first]. These systems can further summon help in emergencies.
With each dramatic and tragic event that hits the headlines, the demand for solutions is
raised, but the typical response - additional security personnel - has not worked
satisfactorily. Crimes on trains are only the most visible consequence of overlooking
many minor shortfalls in the system itself, and we cannot hope for safer journeys until
each of these is tackled first.
Fighting crime on the tracks
For the Railways, the key to crime-control is to concentrate on the smaller issues of
orderliness, abatement of nuisances, petty crimes and rule of law.
February 2004 - The murder of Manish Kumar - a relative of the Prime Minster who
was thrown off a moving train in Bihar - has again brought into focus the insecurity
prevailing in rail travel in much of the country. Similarly, several other cases have also
been taken plce.
Sexual violence on trains:
The attack on women passengers from the North East in Katihar, the stripping of a Mizo
girl, also on a rail segment in Bihar, the rape of a young girl on a suburban train in
Mumbai, the regular and forcible occupation of seats by politicians and goons, and the
high rates of railway crimes all suggest that rail travel is fraught with danger in the
country.
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Indeed, the railway services in Bihar, especially on the route from Mughal Sarai to
Mokameh Junction are notorious for crimes, unruly youths and poor security. Gangs of
youth and short distance commuters barge into the compartments and evict passengers
from their legitimate seats. But this section of railways is notorious for other reasons too.
Serious crimes, including violent ones are also fairly common. Dacoities, robberies,
thefts and vandalism are rampant in this section of the Indian railways. Of all the railway
dacoities in India, almost 51% are reported from Bihar and UP segments. Dacoities on
the Patna rail police jurisdiction, covering the Mughal Sarai-Mokameh route account for
almost 23% of all crimes according to a recent report by the National Crime Records
Bureau.
Although security in the trains and on platforms is the responsibility of Government
Railway Police (GRP), a state police unit, nevertheless, it is the image of the Indian
railways that is adversely affected. Considering that this section is the main route
connecting Delhi to Calcutta and the NE states, the importance of security on this route
cannot be ignored either. The situation in other parts of the country is marginally better.
Anyone traveling in Mumbai or Kolkatta local trains, parts of Central or NE India and
even around Delhi would have experienced harassment, threats, over-crowding and fear
of victimization. A rail journey is hardly a pleasant experience in the country.
Security personnel from the Railway ministry and state police establishments too have
not been professional in dealing with this problem. For most IPS officers a posting in the
railways is not desirable, and their efforts are rather focused upon getting back to
mainstream police establishment. Accordingly, police leadership too has not been
dealing with this problem seriously.
Solution:
Security personnel from the Railway ministry and state police establishments should be
professional in dealing with the problem.
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Problem of Booking Proper Berths
To start off: While booking our ticket, in the reservation form mention 'Mid-Coach-
Inside-LB', in the preferences column of the form. (That is, only when we know that
sufficient berths are available, and we can have the luxury of choice.) Also keep in mind,
benefit to Indian Railways. Travelling in Sleeper Coaches that if passenger does not
mention any preference, he might even end up with berth no: 72(SUB), even if he
happens to be one of the first guys booking his accommodation.
Why 'mid-coach'? (Berths 25 to 40 etc)?
The light from the corridors will not affect your night's sleep (if you are undertaking a
night journey); the light from the coach ends invariably illuminates the first and the last
bays (1 to 8 and 65 to 72), much against our wishes. There are chances that our luggage
might be much safer, if we are, in the middle of the coach. (Any person, near the door can
walk off coolly with our belongings, at any roadside station, before we can blink an eye).
Many of our friends lost their shoes, hand bags etc, just because they happened to be
booked on one of the side berths towards the end of the coach, and were not careful
enough. In any case, it is always better to secure our luggage with the help of a safety
chain. The smell from the toilets might not bother us that much, if we happen to be
in the middle of the coach. Toilets do tend to stink badly within a few hours of
commencement of journey, and this can be terrible.
Why 'Inside-Lower-Berth'?
An inside berth is much more comfortable, and is lengthier than a side berth. And for a
tall person, side berths especially the side uppers are a strict no-no. And then we will not
be quite disturbed, by the movement of people in the corridor, if we happen to be on an
inside berth.
It has been observed that during day time journeys, short distance passengers board SL
coaches, and make themselves comfortable on our berths. we follow a simple procedure.
we pull up the middle berth, and spread out our bed sheet and air pillow across the berth
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and stretch ourself out lazily. This would deter many a short distance traveller from
sitting on our berth. After all, why are we paying the SL class fare? (Let us hasten to say
that this might not work under all circumstances.)
Problem of Beggars, Wandering Mendicants, Urchins, Hawkers,
Eunuchs -- a common sight
Beggars. They are ubiquitous. Ignore them. The blind couple types, who sing an
apology-for-a-song, as they go about begging for alms... The women with crying babies-
in-arms, who try to evoke your sympathy, with fervent 'please...' for milk, food for the
little one. The floor-cleaner-urchin types... With a rag in hand, the small fellow will clean
your compartment floor and then beg for alms. Some do it diligently, others just put up an
act. The singing-balladeers: A small girl/boy with a couple of stones in hand, sing a
popular movie song accompanied by the clackety clack of the stones. The card-droppers:
A man or woman will quickly go through the coach handing you cards that urge you to
donate towards some orphanage, etc. and then come back, requesting for 'donations'.
Don't be fooled! Eunuchs: Some 'request' money in a mild tone, others tend to get
aggressive. Ignore them.
Solution: Baggers should strictly be prohibited t enter in the train by T.T. and RPF
policemen.
Food
In almost all of the long distance pantry cars, we get
dinner, lunch, etc., in casseroles. Some might be
good, and others might be quite bad, depending on the
base kitchen from where they have been obtained).
We can either order the food from the PC, or best, get
down at the major stations and check out the food
stuffs available. Most of them are not having good
quality product; we get hot puris but the oil used is
not very good, or say any other food stuff, which is made minutes before the train pulls in
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to the platform but having bad quality and costly one. The hawkers shout loudly to sell
their product. Most of the cases the quality of food products is sub-standard.
Solution: Only authorized hawkers should be allowed in the reserved railcompartments. And the quality of food items should be prescribed and the price should
be reasonable.
Toilets: -- They stink most of the time making the journey a bit
uncomfortable. What can be done?
Well at many of the big stations, we do have the sanitary staff clean the toilets with the
mechanized toilet cleaner, but then again, as the train proceeds further, things are back to
square one. Blame it, more often than not, on the passengers themselves, who do not
flush the toilets properly.
All of us might not like it, but do what we do. Carry a bottle of Domex or scented phenyl
with us. This might sound ridiculous, but believe us, it does save us from stinking toilets.
Or just close our nose, and pretend that the smell never existed!
Miscellaneous
Also carry an old newspaper with us. Upper berths (or any berths or seats for that
matter) can get quite dusty, and require a proper dusting. Safe drinking water is a must.
We cannot trust even bottled mineral water now-a-days, but then compared to the water
available at stations, they seem a better bet. And a first-aid kit with medicines for
stomach ache, headache, nausea, disinfectants, cotton, etc., might prove handy in
unforeseen circumstances.
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To conclude, travelling by sleeper class can be a pleasure or a pain. It's up to us how we
take it.
Indian Railways' Garbage Problem
It was more than we could stand; and though it was not premeditated, when a poor
woman aimed the cup out the window, we instinctively reached out and caught it,
scalding our hand with the remains of the chai in the process. The woman was shocked
and angry, and lashed out at us. What the hell were we doing? She was simply disposing
of trash! we began a harsh, but even-toned rhetorical inquiry. “Why would you throw
trash from the train? Are you so important that someone else should have to pick-up after
you? Do we have so little self-respect that we are untroubled living amid garbage?”
The woman was unrepentant, and she seized on this last
question with such defiance and obvious satisfaction,
she clearly believed she had routed the debate. “I don’t
live here,” she said. “Look out the window,” We
continued. “Many people live where we are throwing
our trash. Don’t we have any consideration for the
people who must live amid the garbage we throw?”
Most rail passengers, like most of India’s urban
population, seem to care little or nothing for anyone but
themselves.
“Do we want to turn our country into a garbage pit?
Do we hate our country so much?”
The impugning of an Indian’s patriotism gets them everytime. Sure enough, the woman apologized and asked for
the plastic cup back. we told her that she had lost all
rights to the cup, but that we would hold it in until we
reached the station (another hour-and-a-half, at least) and throw it into a dustbin on her
behalf. we also told her that she should not apologize to us, but to her fellow passengers,
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whose country she had been thoughtlessly defiling. The other passengers, needless to say,
had been watching this scene unfold with rapt attention.
Though we deliver variants of this sermon nearly every day we are in India, we usuallydo not intend to disgrace our targets as we did with this woman. With practice, our tone
has become gentler, even as our message is unwavering and unforgiving. People already
understand that littering is wrong; but they seem to need an object lesson – like a
foreigner picking up his refuse and placing it in the nearby dustbin – to drive the point
home. But on that day, we were angry, and we did all within our power to see that the
woman’s humiliation was complete. In mitigation of our admitted cruelty, we shall say
that it is hard to ride the rails in India without feeling the bitterness which provoked our
relentlessness.
Indian Railways operates the most extensive, most densely
utilized train system in the world. Each year it tickets more
than four billion passenger journeys, and passengers travel
more than 310 trillion kilometers – over 850 billion
passenger-kilometers every day. Some substantial
percentage of those passenger-kilometers generates trash and
human waste, almost all of which finds its way to the tracks
or the landscape beyond.
The toilets on Indian trains are little more than compartments in which to squat over a
hole to the track below. They are in fairly constant use. This
may actually be a reasonable, if imperfect, way of disposing
of such a vast quantity of human waste – distributing it
along the tracks, a place guaranteed to be uninhabited, to
sterilize in the searing tropical sun.
The key to this system, of course, is that passengers use the
toilets when the train is moving along open stretches of track, and not standing still in the
station. The toilets even have signs, remind passengers to please refrain from using them
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at the stations. Take a guess where many passengers prefer to use the shitter? Now,
imagine what the average Indian railway station smells like.
The great Gandhian civil engineer, Ishwarbhai Patel, a winner of India’s prestigiousPadmashri award for his lifetime of work in sanitation, actually developed a simple
mechanism to eliminate this problem. Instead of falling directly to the tracks, waste is
captured in a holding tank, and only released when the train reaches intercity speeds.
Indian Railways, however, never implemented this solution.
In the last two weeks, we have ridden more than 90 hours on Indian Railways trains,
long-hauls between various metros. We have made an informal, non-scientific survey of
the track-side landscape in the course of the journeys, looking out the window or the open
doorways at the end of the cars. We have yet to observe a single one-meter stretch that is
garbage-free, even in the most remote countryside.
The passengers are not the only ones to blame for this disgusting state-of-affairs. Indian
Railways – the Government of India, itself – is a leading distributor of trash along the
track.
On long-haul routes, Indian Railways trains include a catering car, and tray-loads of hot
meals are served in first, second, and third-
sleeper classes. We have tried, unsuccessfully, to
learn how many such meals are served by the
railways. When the finished meals are collected
by the porters, the trays are taken to the space
between the bogeys, where there is a small
opening to the tracks, and the trash – uneaten
food, plastic bags, aluminum containers, plastic
cups – is dumped from the moving train.
Indian Railways is not only guilty of littering the Indian landscape, it also seems to seek
the active complicity of even its most well-meaning passengers by failing to provide
adequate dustbins on the trains or at station platforms. The on-train bins, one at
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either end of the bogey, have a capacity of less than 8 liters. These dustbins quickly fill
and overflow; and once spilling onto the floor, the floor becomes a magnet for further
trash.
How is train trash ultimately cleaned-up? Much of it, of course, isn’t. It blows into the
fields and open-spaces, rivers and streams, and streets and alleyways along the tracks,
joining litter from other sources. Garbage is quite simply ubiquitous in India.
At the stations, cleaners are hired to pick trash from amid the muck of feces and urine.
At some station stops, street children with brooms board the train to sweep the floors of
the compartments for tips from the passengers. Everyone
seems comfortable with this system; but should seven year
old children really be responsible for picking up after
adults?
On journeys of more than one day, there is usually a stop
at which the tiny dustbins are emptied, and the toilets
hosed-down, by a contractor to the railway. The trains are
also swept of garbage at the terminus, before they begin a
new journey. We have no idea what becomes of the trash
removed from the trains at these points.
Some of the garbage is collected for recycling. In India,
most trash recycling is accomplished by the informal system of rag-picking. The poorest-
of-the-poor sift through the piles of garbage in India’s streets, and along its rail lines, to
collect the plastics that can be sold. It is unhealthy, back-breaking work, which barely
earns the rag-pickers a subsistence income.
None of this ever crosses the mind of people like the woman with whose story we
discussed here. And if it did, it wouldn’t bother them in the least. Their trash is someone
else’s problem
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Deterioration finances and lacks the funds for future investment:
Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav is a wily and disarming politician and has confounded his critics
by becoming one of the country's most successful railway ministers. And he has not
forgotten his cows. “If you don't milk your cow fully it falls sick, and if the cow falls sick
the farmer goes sick,” he says to explain his solutions to the problems of the world's
second largest railway network. With more than 1.4m employees and 63,000km (40,000
miles) of track, the railways still help bind India together, but they have suffered from
deteriorating finances and lack the funds for future investment.
Rather than raise fares as he was urged to do by various reports and pundits, Mr Yadavhas opted for volume-boosting and cost-cutting measures that have made diehard officials
in the stuffy Railways Board shudder. He increased load limits for the system's 220,000
freight wagons by 11%, legalising something that was already happening. He has boosted
the railways' earnings by 72 billion rupees ($1.6 billion) in the current year. Of this, 60
billion rupees came from speeding up turn-round times. These measures have added
some 24% to freight revenues—and freight provides 70% of the railways' earnings.
Mr Yadav has also speeded up train inspections, varied a train's number of passenger
coaches according to demand (they used to have standard lengths), and introduced an
upgrade system to fill vacant upper-class seats (a well-known source of bribes).
Companies are being allowed to run their own container trains. The first tranche of an
11,000km freight corridor linking India's biggest cities has recently been approved.
But why has Mr Yadav tried so unexpectedly hard? Simple. As he openly admits, he
wants to be prime minister. His corruption charges might appear to be something of a
stumbling block, but he is more concerned that his “credibility has improved”. It might
seem a very long shot. But, given the fractious nature of India's coalition politics, the
low-caste populist from India's roughest state cannot be ruled out as a compromise
candidate if things get complicated after a future general election.
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Freight Operation Information System (FOIS) not only enabled the Indian
Railways to manage better and optimize the usage of its assets but paved the way for
Web-enabling the core applications for increased efficiency.
Problem
Increasing competition, dipping revenues One of the biggest challenges for the Indian
Railways is tracking and managing rakes. Rakes often run dead miles after unloading at a
destination, while on other locations there is shortage of rakes. Data not being available at
the right time is a big problem for the huge railway network. Also, the sheer size and the
scale of operations of the railway network make asset management and optimum
utilization of the available rolling stock difficult. All this was realized by Indian Railwaysalmost two decades ago and there has been a constant effort to incorporate the latest
technology to improve performance. Due to a lack of continuous cargo visibility and end-
to-end commitment to freight customers, an important element of supply chain
management could not have been incorporated without the help of IT.
Solution
IT to the rescue Indian Railways implemented Freight Operation Information System
(FOIS), a scalable and reliable freight operations management system. FOIS will be
implemented in phases and has been built on BEA Tuxedo (TP monitor) and BEA
WebLogic Server to extend the core applications to the Web. FOIS is an indigenous
system jointly developed in 1999 by the Center for Railways Information Systems
(CRIS) and CMC.
Results
Optimizing available assets FOIS will enhance customer responsiveness through cargo
visibility and information dissemination, reduce operating expenses and improve asset
utilization. FOIS has been effectively used to track wagons and rakes, which helps in
predicting the demand pattern in different zones. Subsequently it helps in efficient
utilization of rakes. The return time for wagons has reduced. The data available at the
various points across the railway network can now be collated. MIS reports can be
accessed online across all the divisions. While BEA Tuxedo has enabled better
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bandwidth utilization, BEA WebLogic Server has reduced the latency between the data
collected and the MIS reports generated by making everything web-enabled. The overall
productivity and efficiency levels have gone up, giving the Indian Railways room to offer
better services, pricing and be competitive in the transport business.
Business Process challenge: Improving the present with an eye on the
future
Indian Railways earns almost 65 percent of revenue from freight movement. However,
this segment has always been under competitive pressure from other transport and
logistics services. With alternative mode of freight movement readily available,
customers have also become more demanding in terms of delivery status and value for
the money they pay. This reflects in the declining market share of the railways in the
cargo/ freight business. Earlier, the huge railway network generated a lot of data, which
was manually tabulated and reports were prepared at the loading and the unloading
points. Often the reports took more than 10 days to reach the central location from where
the wagons and locomotives were managed. The railway handles different kinds of cargo,
including steel, coal, cement, milk, oil, fertilizers etc, and the companies required the
status of their cargoes. In the absence of online or real time reports this was a difficult proposition. Further, replication of the bulky data was difficult and extracting exact
information from the heap was another cumbersome process.
At the operations level, a lot of time and money was wasted in keeping track of the rakes.
This often delayed scheduling of train load formation as information was not available on
the locations. Also, the assets and the resources were not being utilized efficiently and to
the optimum.
In the early 1980's, the Indian Railways evaluated freight application systems
implemented by other railway companies or organizations around the world. However,
there were a number of differences in those models vis-à-vis practices followed by the
Indian Railways. It was found that in many cases a fair amount of customization and
modification was required to suit the Indian conditions and the railways' requirement.
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The adoption and integration of IT in the system was an imperative for the railways. It
was recommended that CRIS join hands with an IT company and develop core modules
for FOIS. FOIS was launched in 2000. It comprises two parts: The Rake Management
System (RMS) and the Terminal Management System (TMS). The RMS has already
been implemented across India and TMS will be implemented by 2006.
RMS and TMS were the initial phases of FOIS where priority was to aggregate
information (data); prepare MIS and make it available online to reduce the latency. The
use of BEA Tuxedo platform in the core module was instrumental in the successful
implementation of RMS and TMS “Faster dissemination of reports means better
utilization of wagons and better tracking of rakes”.
The usage of SOA and BEA WebLogic Servers will open new ways to keep the
customers informed and also get restricted access to MIS reports for their cargo
shipments. In subsequent phases it will integrate payment gateways for faster clearance
of bills. The highend users involved in business-to-business transactions will get the
consignment information (loading, unloading, transit, and delivery reports) and can pay
online at any of the nodal customer centers once the cycle is completed.
The hub-spoke model being put in place will open a new chapter in the railways'
customer relationship. As the information is stored at a center site with the other points
being given access rights, the customers can get information anywhere they want from
these nodal centers.
KEY BENEFITS
Efficient scheduling and quick turnaround of rakes enables effective and optimum
utilization of existing assets and resources
Tracking of rakes or individual wagons possible in real time
Live monitoring of all freight trains will enable recipients of consignments to get an
accurate forecast of cargo arrival
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Analysis of the total demand for rail transport and its logical matching with incoming
rakes to optimize the supply of empty rakes for loading
As reports are available to every one similar types of stock can be clubbed and
moved in single trainload formations g Customer's orders, billing and cash accounting
of freight traffic can be done at nodal customer centers, and not necessarily at the
handling terminals
High-end and B2B customers can access FOIS features. Web-enablement of FOIS to
help customers with better inventory management and logistics planning
A complete logistics management ecosystem with real time information on the chain
of physical distribution would reduce inventory costs
Customer database and information system can be maintained.
Railway Safety: An example of Synergy
Safety is distinct from Indian Railway's security functions, which include protection of
railway property, both of railway installations and of booked consignments. Safety on IR
is a sum total of the efforts of men and management, observance of methods, rules,
procedures, the performance of machines, including maintenance practices and materials
and utilization of money. In short, it is a paradigm of five Ms _ men, management,
methods, machines (including maintenance and materials) and money.
Safety is an inherent element underlying all planned modernization and technological up-
gradation on IR. The aim is to improve safety through better man-machine interaction,
easier operating systems and reducing the need for human dependence in maintenance
and operation. Safety of trains is the end product of cohesive fusion of myriad parts,
including railway staff, track, rolling stock, signals, electrical equipment,
suppliers/vendors of various equipment, and the most important `the general public'. Anyof the following possibilities, either by itself, or in combination with others, may cause an
accident of a train:-
A mistake or an act of negligence by one of its 6 lakh frontline operating and
maintenance staff
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An incorrect indication on one of lakhs of signals
An equipment/asset failure of loco, wagon, coach, track, signals etc
An impatient or rash move by one of millions of road users negotiating over
38,000 level crossings daily
Irresponsible act of carrying inflammable goods by a less awakened person
Sabotage by misguided elements etc
Indian Railways have performed creditably well on the front of safety on tracks. There is
a reduction of 80% in train accidents since 1960-61, despite nearly 535% increase in passenger traffic and 360% increase in freight traffic respectively. Still, greater heights
are to be achieved towards better safety benchmark.
Accidents
Accident is an occurrence in the course of working of Railway which does or may affect
the safety of the Railway passengers or servants or which affect the safety of others, or
which does or may cause delay to a train or loss to the Railway. The term `accident'envelopes a wide spectrum of occurrences or consequences not necessarily leading to a
mishap.
Types of Train Accidents
Train accidents include train accidents having serious repercussion in terms of loss of
human life, injury, damage to Railway property or interruption to rail traffic of laid down
threshold levels and values. These consequential train accidents include Collision,
Derailments, Fire in Trains, Collisions of trains at Level Crossings and few miscellaneous
incidents. All other train accidents, which are below the threshold values, are treated as
"other train accidents".
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A measure of the gravity of train accidents is the incidence of injury, loss of life and
damage to railway property. Generally, these consequential train accidents only agitate
the public mind, which judges the record of safety of railway travel by the incidence of
these accidents, ignoring other occurrences of minor nature. A few other types of
mishaps, involving serious potential hazards, are given equal importance. Indicative
Accidents, distinct from Consequential Train Accidents include all cases of `train passing
signal at danger', `averted collision', breach of block rules etc. These three types of
indicative accidents underline the philosophy of IR's safety. Signals are sacrosanct, unlike
on roads. `Near-miss' or averted collisions and `breach of block rules', not actually
leading to mishaps offer a serious warning bell to the system. Defaulters are to be
assigned severe punishments as per rule books.
Trends of consequential train accidents
As a result of various safety measures taken continuously, the number of consequential
train accidents has come down from 2131 during 1960-61 to 414 during 2001-2002
despite heavy increase in traffic. And in fact, to have a better appreciation, occurrence of
accidents needs to be viewed in relation to the quantum of traffic handled, indicated in
terms of million train kilometers.
The accidents per million train Kms, an important index of safety, used by most of the
Railways in the world, has also come down from 5.5 accidents per million train Kms.
during 1960-61 to 0.55 accident per million train Kms. during 2001-2002. In simple
terms, whereas accidents are declining sharply, traffic density is increasing substantially
on IR.
The safety performance index has been improving regularly, during the last four decades,as indicated under:
Number of Acc idents(Yearly
Average)
Million Train KMs(Yearly Average)
Incidence of trainaccidentspermillion trainKms.(Yearly Average)
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1960s (1961-1970)
1393 433.8 3.3
1970s (1971-1980) 866 480.9 1.8
1980s (1981-1990) 757 559.8 1.4
1990s (1991-2000) 464 655.8 0.7 2000-2001 only 473 723.8 0.65
2001-2002 only 414 756.4 0.55
Accident trends in the last decade (1992-93 to 2001-02)
The category-wise share of consequential train accidents is important to comprehend
potential hazards of different type of accidents and efforts made to contain each type
separately. During the last decade, (1992-93 to 2001-02), 55% of consequential train
accidents related
to freight trains
only.
Derailments were
the main
contributors
(75%) in the total
tally. They are
followed by 16%
accidents at level
crossings, 7% of
Collisions and
2% of `fire in
trains' in the overall tally.
*Based on 1992-2002 data
In the decade, there is a 21% decline in number of accidents, which dropped from 524 in
1992-93 to 414 accidents during 2001-02 due to Lowest Derailments in 2001-2002
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Although derailments constitute the largest number of consequential train accidents, i.e.
about 75%, their impact is
generally not highly
significant in most of the
situations. The derailments
consisted of 34% passenger
carrying trains, whereas freight
trains logged up 66%
derailments. Out of the total
derailments, 60.33% occurred
in the mid-section while
39.67% took place at the
stations. Normally derailments occurring `at stations' have much less impact. The number
of derailments stood at 1415 in 1960-61, and has come down to 280 during the period
2001-2002. This is the lowest number of derailments in the last forty years, despite
manifold increase in the traffic handled in the intervening period. Derailments are
primarily caused by two major components viz. track and rolling stock.
Collisions: Most dreaded accidents
Collisions are the most dreaded accidents for any railway-man. These can be `side
collisions', `Rear-end' and `head-on collisions'. Trains ramming into another from behind
are called rear-end collisions, while trains colliding on the same track from opposite ends,
are called head-on collisions and are the most fatal of all accidents. Side collisions can
occur either in station area, while converging or diverging or by fouling the adjacent
track in multiple lines territory. Rear-end collisions and head-on collisions can occur at
stations or between the stations. Of the total consequential train accidents, that occurred
during the last decade, the percentage of collisions involving passenger carrying trains
was 4% only, but they are highly volatile mishaps and call for necessary steps to prevent
them at all costs.
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Incidence of collisions per million train kms was 0.19 during the 1960s which came
down to about 0.08 during 1980s, followed by 0.05 collisions per million train kms in
1990s thus, showing a steady decline.
Though, not all collisions result into casualties, but occurrence of even one is a nightmare
for railwaymen in general. To
create appropriate awareness, even
`averted collisions', which
physically did not happen, but
could have occurred, are treated
with equal concern. Incidence of
collisions per million train kms
was 0.19 during the 1960s which
came down to about 0.08 during
1980s, followed by 0.05 collisions per million train kms in 1990s thus, showing a steady
decline.
Though, not all collisions result into casualties, but occurrence of even one is a nightmare
for railwaymen in general. To create appropriate awareness, even `averted collisions',
which physically did not happen, but could have occurred, are treated with equal concern.
Level crossing accidents: High Casualties
Of the total consequential train accidents, that occurred during the last decade, the
accidents at level crossings were about 16%. Accidents at manned level crossings were at
the level of 4% of the total consequential train accidents, whereas unmanned level
crossings accidents shared 12% of mishaps.
India ranks better than many countries in performance of accidents on level crossings,which are reflected below:
Country Level crossing accidentsper million train km.
Deaths per million train km.
France 0.33 0.05
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U.S.A. 2.01 0.25
Japan 0.36 0.10
Russian Federation 0.04 0.01
Holland 1.01 0.28 India 0.10 0.21
* Source _ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific's Publication entitled
`Evaluation of Cost _ Effective System for Railway Level Crossing Protection -2000'
Accidents at unmanned level crossings occur primarily due to dashing of road vehicles
with the oncoming trains and cause fatality of the road user. A road vehicle driver,
though having the advantage of maneuverability and lesser braking distances and shorter
reaction time as compared to train drivers, fails to maintain the level of alertness,normally expected, while crossing such intersections, where he is supposed to take
necessary precautions as stipulated in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. It has been observed
that over 85% of all accidents occurring at unmanned level crossings, involved passenger
carrying trains, reflecting that the road vehicle drivers normally misjudge the speed of the
oncoming trains and take chances while crossing the rail track.
On an average, every year, 141 persons died and 158 injured in the accidents occurring at
unmanned level crossings only during the last decade, contributing a share of 37% of the
total fatalities in all accidents. 9% of the total fatalities occurred in manned level crossing
accidents, thus indicating that 46% of train accident fatalities take place at rail-road
intersections only.
However, social awareness and involvement of all parts of society is essential to solve the
problem. Every year, huge demands are received from people and their representatives to
open more and more unmanned level crossings. If all of them are accepted, main railway
arteries will need to be punctured at enormous locations creating acute problems for
passenger carrying trains as well as road vehicle users.
The issue has got another aspect to be considered. Railways share the cost of Road Over
Bridges with the basic purpose of eliminating the busy Level Crossings to improve the
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Railway safety and operations Considering route Kms. and population of level crossings,
there is on an average, a level crossing at every 1.5 kms. which provides an opportunity
to road users to cross the track at railways' cost.
Casualties in Accidents: Ratio of Accidents involving casualties
One measure of severity of an accident is the resultant impact on passengers that the train
carried. On Indian Railways most of the accidents i.e. 73% are generally free of any
casualty. Accidents, attended with casualties, even with one injury, were around 27 % of
the total train accidents that occurred during the last five years. Of 27% accidents, 17.5%
were involving mishaps at unmanned and manned level crossings only. The analysis also
reflects: -
(i) 97 % of accidents at Unmanned level crossings were attended with casualties
(ii) 86% of accidents at manned level crossings were attended with casualties
(iii) 59% of collisions were attended with casualties
(iv) 19% of fire incidents resulted in casualties
(v) 7% of derailments were attended with casualties
On an average, during the last decade, 384 persons died in the consequential train
accidents every year. This consisted of 178 train passengers, 183 "Other Persons
(Primarily road users)" & 23 Railway Staff. 37% of total deaths in all accidents were at
unmanned level crossings. Each year, 38% of total deaths were caused by collisions,
followed by 14%(rounded off) by derailments & 9% by manned level crossing accidents.
Passenger deaths per million passenger kms.
One of the measures to judge Railway safety is the rate of deaths of passengers per
million passenger Kms run on the system. Although the number of fatalities is essentially
fortuitous, the passenger deaths have come down from 0.0003 per million passenger kms
during 1992-93 to 0.0001 death per million passenger kms. during the year 2001-2002.
According to published data, nearly 79000 deaths occurred in 3.9 lakh road accidents in
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India in the year 2000, whereas the yearly average fatalities in train accidents, however,
have been at the level of 384, during the last decade, including deaths at level crossings.
During the last decade (1992-93 to 2001-02), the average yearly cost of damages assessedin various consequential train accidents has been to the tune of about Rs 60 crores. These
include damage to track, rolling stock, signalling gears etc. Indirect costs of accidents are
not accounted for.
Cause-wise analysis of Accidents
Though during the last decade, the consequential train accidents have dropped
substantially, the major cause of train accidents continues to be `human failure', which
consists of "Failure of Railway staff and "failure of other than Railway staff". Accidents
on account of `Railway staff failure' were around 65.35%, while 17.7% accidents
occurred due to "Failure of other than Railway staff". Railway Staff Failures leading to
accidents are shared by maintenance staff (31%), running staff (10.4%), operational staff
(4%) and combination of staff (20%). Accidents at unmanned level crossings occurred
entirely on account of "Failure of other than railway staff" i.e. negligence of road users.
Nearly 9% of the consequential train accidents occurred due to `equipment failure',
primarily contributed by track and rolling stock, 3% of the accidents were contributed by
Sabotage and another 3% were due to incidental reasons like sinkage of track, boulders
falling on track, cattle run over etc.
Safety Performance during 2002-03*
The number of consequential train accidents during the year 2002-03 has come down to
351 as compared to 414 during the year 2001-02, thus reflecting a decline of
approximately 15%. This is also the lowest number of train accidents since 1960-61. Theyear has recorded the lowest number of collisions (16) and derailments (216) since 1960-
61. However, there is an increase in level crossing accidents, rising from 88 in 2001-02 to
97 during the year 2002-03.
* Provisional
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International Comparisons
. An illustrative comparative data for few selected railways may be seen as under:
Railway No. of Accidents per million train kms
Japan Railway Group 0.65*
Germany 0.91*
France 0.84*
Italy 0.73*
Indian Railway 0.55
Note: There may be variations in the definition of accidents.
To have a better appreciation, a sample of the level of density of traffic and the rate of
accidents and passenger fatalities/casualties on Indian Railways vis-à-vis some other
world railways are given in the Annexure `C' and `C-1' which broadly indicate higher
density of traffic and comparative rate of accidents and casualties on Indian Railways.
(*Source : East Japan Railway Co. Year Book 2001-2002)
ANALYSIS OF TRENDS OF ACCIDENTS
Comparative figures of consequential Train accidents in the past ten years
TABLE
Item 96-97
97-98
98-99
99-2000
00-01
01-02
02-03
03-04
04-05 05-06
1.Total No.of ConsequentialTrain Accidents
377 396 397 463 473 414 351 325 234 234
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2. No. of
Passangers’Train Accidents out of 1above
160 175 199 210 261 218 216 214 154 167
3 Goods Train Accidents (out of 1above)
217 221 198 253 212 196 135 111 80 67
4. Total No. ofconsequential trainaccidents permillion trainkilometers
0.56 0.60 0.58 0.65 0.67 0.55 0.44 0.41 0.30 0.28
5.No.ofPassenger Fatalitiesincluding Railwaycrew in seriousTrain Accidents
110 182 295 374 63 99 186 139 55 177
1998
4 April 1998: Eleven people killed near Fatuha station on Howrah-Delhi main lineas Howrah-Danapur Express derails between Fatuha and Bankaghat stations. [1]
24 April 1998: Twenty-four killed and 32 injured at Parali Vaijanath railwaystation in Maharashtra as 15 wagons of a goods train Ram into the Manmad-Kachiguda Express.
Aug 13, 1998: Nineteen killed and 27 injured as a bus rams into the Chennai-Madurai Express train at an unmanned level-crossing on the new Karur-Salem bypass road on the outskirts of Karur town.
Sept 24, 1998: Twenty people, including 14 school children, killed and 33 injuredwhen a train engine rams into an bus at an unmanned level-crossing nearBottalaapalem village in Andhra Pradesh.
Nov 26, 1998: Over 200 people die as Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express rams intothree derailed bogies of Amritsar-bound Frontier Golden Temple Mail nearLudhiana.
1999
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16 July 1999: Seventeen killed and over 200 injured as the new Delhi-boundGrand Trunk Express from Chennai collides with derailed wagons of a goodstrain near Mathura.
Aug 2, 1999: 268 killed and 359 injured in a collision involving Awadh-AssamExpress and Brahmaputra Mail at Gaisal in North Frontier Railway's Katihardivision.
2006
11 July 2006 – A series of bomb attacks strikes commuter trains in Mumbai,India, killing at least 200.[2]
18 August 2006 two carriages catch fire on the Chennai-Hyderabad Express nearSecundrabad station
9 November 2006 – India- 40 die and 15 injured in a West Bengal rail accident.
20 November 2006 – India- A bomb explodes on a train near Belacoba station inWest Bengal, India, killing 7 and injuring 53. See 2006 West Bengal traindisaster .
[3]
1 December 2006 – Bihar , India - Bhágalpur in the Ganges a portion of the 150-year-old 'Ulta Pul' bridge being dismantled collapsed over a passing train ofIndia's Eastern Railways, killing 35 and injuring 17.[4][5]
2009
13 February 2009 – India- Twelve carriages of the Coromandel Express derails soon after the train left Jajpur Road station near the city of Jajpur in the state ofOrissa.[6] Interestingly, the accident occurred on the day of Railway Budget presentation when Railway Minister Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav boasted aboutincreased safety measures at Indian Railways.
Policy on level crossings: Is manning an ideal solution?
With over 38000 level crossings and complex nature of road traffic, India ranks better
than many advanced countries in safety at level crossings with 0.10 accident per million
train Kms., surpassing France, USA and Japan etc. The Railways are persistently
following the steps to reduce unmanned level crossing accidents and no effort is made to
dilute the gravity and the seriousness of accidents.
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The level crossings are made to facilitate the smooth running of traffic in a regulated
manner governed by specific rules and conditions. As on 31.03.2002, there were 21,792
unmanned and 16,549 manned level crossings on Indian Railway System. At present,
6446 manned level crossings are interlocked and 14502 are provided with telephones.
The primary causes of accidents at unmanned level crossings include failure of road users
in not following provisions of section 131 of Motor Vehicle Act, mis-adventure to cross
level crossings in the face of an approaching train, road vehicles getting stalled at the
locations, rash driving of un-licensed tractor drivers, etc.
In the control and scope of intervention in curbing unmanned level crossing accidents, the
role of Railways is limited and highly constricted as most of them have been found
occuring due to negligence on the part of road vehicle users. The unmanned level
crossings are comparable to road-to-road inter sections spread out in the country. These
inter sections may be on village roads, city roads, state highways or national highways.
There are huge number of inter sections where neither the traffic signal is provided nor
the traffic policeman is positioned. Similar is the case of unmanned level crossings,
where rail and road cross each other. Density of traffic at most of them is not high, or
rather it is low.
. The unmanned level crossings are divided into 5 categories depending on the volume of
road-cum-rail traffic, visibility conditions and plying of buses/motor vehicles.
In 1994, Railways decided to man all unmanned level crossings falling on the routes
where Rajdhani/Shatabdi express trains were running at a speed of 120 KMPH or above.To contain population of unmanned level crossings, it was also decided not to provide
any new unmanned level crossing on existing lines as also not permitting downgradation
or de-manning of existing manned level crossings.
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Indian Railways in 1999, identified 4449 Broad Gauge unmanned level crossings falling
in different categories for manning. 2145 level crossings of them have already been
sanctioned for manning. During the last five years, 490 level crossings have been
manned.
Cost of manning of unmanned level crossings
If all unmanned level crossings are to be manned, Railways require approximately Rs.
2450 crores as Capital cost to man them and approximately Rs. 700 crores per annum
will be required to meet the maintenance and operation cost. The cost of manning with
interlocked signals will be around Rs.5500 crores. However, to eliminate probability of
any accident at manned and unmanned level crossings, construction of Road over bridgesand Road under bridges may be envisaged, but it will involve staggering amount of
Rs.4,00,000 crores.
One of the major factors, yet to be assessed, relates to social costs of manning unguarded
level crossings. Man days lost at closed level crossings and consequential mental and
physical strain, while waiting for opening of gates caused to road vehicle users, are
unexplored areas. Simultaneously, if it is decided to halt or slow down rail traffic, or
puncture rail routes by opening more level crossings, economic and social costs to the
railway system need to be gauged. On one side, persistent demands are made to open
more level crossings, while on the other hand, unlicensed and rash drivers venture into
taking more risks at rail-road intersections.
In the last two decades, the population of road vehicles registered in the country has gone
up from 53.91 lakhs in 1981 to 483.93 lakhs in the year 2000 (about 800% increase).
Similarly, the total train kilometers has risen from 530.9 million in 1982-83 to 756
million in 2001-02 (over 42% increase). ( UMLC = Unmanned Level Crossing)
The problem of accidents at level crossings is a worldwide phenomenon. Railway Safety
Review Committee has observed that: "Judged in terms of number of level crossing
accidents, the safety of the IR is far better than that of even advanced railway systems.
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For instance, in the two years, 1995 and 1996, there were 154 and 166 level crossing
accidents respectively on the French Railways (SNCF), and as many as 231 and 242 level
crossing accidents respectively on the German Railways (DB AG). In comparison, on IR
there were only 68 level crossing accidents in 1995-96 and 63 level crossing accidents in
1996-97. However, we are of the view that by taking suitable action, the number can be
reduced further."
It mainly depends upon the alertness of road users for which Indian Railways take regular
action for educating the road users. The ideal solution lies in a combination of three
elements viz. reduction in unmanned level crossings, selective manning of high density
traffic unmanned level crossings, and creation of higher consciousness in road vehicle
users.
The problems of mobility and accident prevention at level crossings can best be
addressed by joint efforts of all concerned _ Central Government, State Government,
Municipalities, NGOs, educational institutions and private operators etc.
Train Actuated Warning Device (TAWD)
Development of a reliable Train Actuated Warning Device (TAWD) for giving
audio/visual warning to road users about an approaching train has been under process on
IR to reduce accidents at unmanned level crossings.
Although the accidents at unmanned level crossings primarily and largely occurred due to
negligence of road vehicle users in clear violation of Section 131 of Motor Vehicle Act,
Indian Railways have been taking steps to ensure additional safety at these locations.
Some of these measures targeted at safety at unmanned and manned level crossing are as
under:
(i) Proper Road Signs have been provided on approaches to level crossings so that road
vehicle drivers become aware of the existence of a level crossing. To improve their
visibility the signboards are being made of retro-reflective sheets.
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(ii) Road Signs, Speed breakers/rumble strips have been provided on approaches to level
crossings so that road vehicle drivers are reminded to reduce their speed.
(iii) Whistle boards are also provided alongside the rail track on approach to level
crossings from where train drivers continuously whistle.
(iv) Road users have still not got used to faster speeds of Mail/Express trains. A train
traveling at 90 KMPH covers 25 metres per second. Thus, although to the road user the
train appears to be 150 meters away, in terms of time, it is only 6 seconds away. This
message is being conveyed to them by various publicity campaigns.
(v) To educate road drivers about safety at unmanned level crossings, publicity
campaigns are periodically launched through different media like quickies on TV, cinema
slides, posters, radio, newspapers and street plays etc.
(vi) Joint Ambush Checks with civil authorities are conducted to nab errant road vehicle
drivers under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Railways Act,
1989.
(vii) Involvement of village Panchayats is also organized in railways' public awareness
programmes.
(viii) Where the visibility distance is inadequate, speed restrictions for trains are imposed
to allow for longer time interval for road traffic to pass in the face of approaching trains.
(ix) Surprise checks and night inspections are regularly conducted to check the alertness
of gatemen.
(x) Funds received from the `diesel cess' are being used for safety related works
pertaining to level crossings.
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(xi) Manned level crossings having heavy traffic density are being progressively
interlocked with signals on a planned basis.
(xii) Telephones are also being provided at all manned level crossing gates.
(xiii) Lifting barriers are installed in lieu of leaf gates to facilitate simultaneous
closure/opening of gates on both the ends.
(xiv) Every year, some unmanned level crossings are converted into manned level
crossings.
(xv) Anti Collision Device, the latest innovation, will give additional safety shield at
manned and unmanned level crossings, through an audio-visual indication to road users.
Moreover, in case of emergent needs, gatemen at manned level crossings will be able to
reduce the speed of an approaching train to prevent an accident at the crossing.
Replacement of level crossings with road over/under bridges
A level crossing gate with one lakh train vehicle units (a unit obtained by multiplying the
number of trains with road vehicles and is indicative of traffic at the level crossing) or
more qualifies for replacement with ROB/RUBs on cost sharing basis. Railways share
50% cost of the work for two lane wide bridge. Proposals are required to be sponsored by
the State governments/local authorities. As on 31.3.2001, there were 971 Level
Crossings, which qualify for replacement with ROB/RUB on cost sharing basis. Railways
require approximately Rs. 5000 crores of funds to meet the cost of construction of
ROB/RUBs in lieu of these identified 971 level crossings as its share and equal amount is
required to be contributed by the concerned State governments as their share.
Fire in Trains
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The accidents on fire on trains have been drastically reduced by improvement of coaches
through better designs. Wooden bodied coaches are a thing of the past. Fire on trains are
now generally caused by short-circuiting in the wiring of the coaches, inflammable
material left over, specially in luggage and parcel coaches, running on passenger carrying
trains or fire caused in locos. Gradually, fire retarding and fireproof material are being
used extensively in manufacture of coaches. Adoption of fire retardant material for
internal furnishing for wall painting, flooring, rexine, roof paneling etc. has been
reducing the risk of such accidents. In air-conditioned coaches, fire retardant curtains and
upholstery have been adopted. A fireproof coach that can withstand most of the types of
fire accidents is under development.
Accidents involving fire in trains, though small in number, can be disastrous depending
upon nature and intensity of occurrence, hence preventive steps are necessary.
Technology, Operations and Systems Management Program – To provide public
agencies and private sector partners with the tools to effectively manage and improve the
performance of their intermodal transportation systems, ITS America supports the $3 billion
per year Operations and Management program requested by the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). From this amount, the authorization bill should provide at least $1 billion per year to support deployment of ITS technologies and
intermodal integration. ITS and operational strategies should be funded at 100 percent federal
share in order to encourage rapid, effective and low-cost performance improvements and to
support high-priority multimodal initiatives in areas such as urban congestion, rural safety,
climate change, improved transit operations, and more efficient freight corridors, border
crossings, and intermodal connectors. The combined Technology, Operations and Systems
Management program will ensure that adequate funding is available to state and local
agencies through existing formulas to actively manage the intermodal transportation network
to improve public safety, reduce traffic congestion, minimize emissions and environmental
impacts, improve economic productivity, reduce project costs, and optimize the capacity,
energy efficiency, and performance of the transportation system. U.S. DOT should provide
technical assistance, training and deployment support to agencies as they work to integrate
ITS solutions into their planning and operations. Eligible expenditures under the program
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