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As India prepares for bullet train, 9 derailments in 27 days reveal safety crisis
While India is preparing for bullet train, the largest passenger system in the world with 23 million passengers every day, the Indian Railways was hit by 78 derailments in 2016-17 with 193 people dead, the most in 10 years.
india Updated: Sep 15, 2017 09:50 IST
IndiaSpend Team
New Delhi
Policemen and emergency crew stand next to the wrecage of a train carriage after an express train derailed on the evening of August 19 near the town of Khatauli in the state of Uttar Pradesh, on August 20, 2017.(AFP File photo)
On the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for a Rs-1,10,000-crore ($17 billion) bullet train, the Jammu Tawi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express jumped the tracks at New Delhi station, the ninth derailment in 27 days, a consequence of growing traffic, falling safety standards and underinvestment.
The largest passenger system in the world with 23 million passengers every day, the Indian Railways was hit by 78 derailments in 2016-17 with 193 people dead, the most in 10 years, IndiaSpend reported on August 22, 2017.
Although accidents in general have fallen over 10 years, from 194 in 2007-08 to 104 in 2016-17, derailments have risen over this period, an indication that trains are increasingly at peril.
The first six months of 2017 reported 29 train accidents, of which 20 were due to derailments, killing 39 people and injuring 54, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha, parliament’s lower house, on July 19, 2017.
Accidents of consequence in the current financial year ending August 2, 2017, have decreased by 51.2%, from 43 in 2016-17 to 21 in 2017-18, according to this reply (starred question 216) to the Rajya Sabha, parliament’s upper house on August 4, 2017.
“Accidents per million train kilometres, an internationally accepted yardstick of safety, has declined from 0.23 in 2006-07 to 0.11 in 2014-15, 0.10 (approximately) in 2015-16 and further declined to 0.09 (approximately) in 2016-17,” former minister of railways Suresh Prabhu told the Rajya Sabha in his reply.
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One of the cause for derailments is the lag in addressing what are technically called “defects in the track or rolling stock”.
Only 54% track renewal may have happened in 2016
Of 114,907 km railway tracks, 4,500 km, or 4%, should be renewed annually, the committee said. However, of 5,000 km track length due for renewal currently, no more than 2700 km, or 54%, would be renewed, it said.
“Track renewal covering 5900 km of track have been sanctioned as on March 31, 2016,” said the Fifteenth Report of the parliamentary standing committee on the action taken by government on the recommendations/observations contained in the 12th Report, presented on August 3, 2017. “…Accordingly, physical targets have also been increased from 1500 km to 2668 km.”
Track failures and subsequent derailments are caused by twin factors–excessive traffic and underinvestment in rail infrastructure, IndiaSpend reported on April 3, 2017. Up to 40% of Indian Railways’ 1,219 sections are utilised beyond capacity.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...fety-crisis/story-PfYdgD1Bq9XHFr4Vm6DzKL.html
While India is preparing for bullet train, the largest passenger system in the world with 23 million passengers every day, the Indian Railways was hit by 78 derailments in 2016-17 with 193 people dead, the most in 10 years.
india Updated: Sep 15, 2017 09:50 IST
IndiaSpend Team
New Delhi
Policemen and emergency crew stand next to the wrecage of a train carriage after an express train derailed on the evening of August 19 near the town of Khatauli in the state of Uttar Pradesh, on August 20, 2017.(AFP File photo)
On the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for a Rs-1,10,000-crore ($17 billion) bullet train, the Jammu Tawi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express jumped the tracks at New Delhi station, the ninth derailment in 27 days, a consequence of growing traffic, falling safety standards and underinvestment.
The largest passenger system in the world with 23 million passengers every day, the Indian Railways was hit by 78 derailments in 2016-17 with 193 people dead, the most in 10 years, IndiaSpend reported on August 22, 2017.
Although accidents in general have fallen over 10 years, from 194 in 2007-08 to 104 in 2016-17, derailments have risen over this period, an indication that trains are increasingly at peril.
The first six months of 2017 reported 29 train accidents, of which 20 were due to derailments, killing 39 people and injuring 54, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha, parliament’s lower house, on July 19, 2017.
Accidents of consequence in the current financial year ending August 2, 2017, have decreased by 51.2%, from 43 in 2016-17 to 21 in 2017-18, according to this reply (starred question 216) to the Rajya Sabha, parliament’s upper house on August 4, 2017.
“Accidents per million train kilometres, an internationally accepted yardstick of safety, has declined from 0.23 in 2006-07 to 0.11 in 2014-15, 0.10 (approximately) in 2015-16 and further declined to 0.09 (approximately) in 2016-17,” former minister of railways Suresh Prabhu told the Rajya Sabha in his reply.
Read more
259 killed in 27 rail accidents since Modi govt took over in 2014, says Congress
586 train accidents in last 5 years; 53% due to derailments
One of the cause for derailments is the lag in addressing what are technically called “defects in the track or rolling stock”.
Only 54% track renewal may have happened in 2016
Of 114,907 km railway tracks, 4,500 km, or 4%, should be renewed annually, the committee said. However, of 5,000 km track length due for renewal currently, no more than 2700 km, or 54%, would be renewed, it said.
“Track renewal covering 5900 km of track have been sanctioned as on March 31, 2016,” said the Fifteenth Report of the parliamentary standing committee on the action taken by government on the recommendations/observations contained in the 12th Report, presented on August 3, 2017. “…Accordingly, physical targets have also been increased from 1500 km to 2668 km.”
Track failures and subsequent derailments are caused by twin factors–excessive traffic and underinvestment in rail infrastructure, IndiaSpend reported on April 3, 2017. Up to 40% of Indian Railways’ 1,219 sections are utilised beyond capacity.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...fety-crisis/story-PfYdgD1Bq9XHFr4Vm6DzKL.html
