India Railways needs large-scale reform plan
Two days after the derailment of two passenger trains on flooded tracks in Madhya Pradesh, the relief and rescue operations have already come to a close, Government compensation to the victims or their next of kin has been announced, and soon enough, the other trains that had been diverted from their regular routes will also be back on track. As the situation goes back to normal, the demands for greater rail safety, made in the aftermath of every major rail accident, will be also be filed away — that is, until the next accident happens and a few dozen lives are lost yet again.
This cycle that has to be broken. India needs to make a serious and sustained effort to improve rail safety. This will have to include large-scale upgradation of infrastructure, from train tracks to rail bridges to signaling systems, much of which dates back to the British era. New technologies need to be incorporated, railway employees have to be trained better, and more efficient management practices will have to be put in place. All of this will require huge financial resources, not to mention proper leadership and planning — all of which is beyond the means of an ill-managed, loss-making mammoth like the Indian Railways. Hence, efforts to significantly improve rail safety will have to be part of a larger plan to overhaul Indian Railways as a whole.
The Modi Government has repeatedly said that it is committed to this cause, especially since the health of Indian Railways is intrinsically linked to the performance of the Indian economy. Earlier this year, it had announced a $137 billion plan to fix the railway’s crumbling infrastructure over the next five years. However, the refurbishing process has hardly begun. Besides, promising money is just the first step and the easiest. Over the years, crores of rupees have been earmarked for the Indian Railways to carry out repairs and upgrades but either the money hasn’t come through or it hasn’t been ultilised and returned to the Union Government.
Case in point is the special railway safety fund. It was established in 2002 by the then NDA Government and lapsed in 2008, with only a fraction of allocated funds having been utilised, as noted in reports by the Comptroller and Auditor-General. The UPA Government sought to revive the fund but without result. Under the Modi regime, Indian Railways has sought Rs30,000 crore for a non-lapsable safety fund. However, it is unclear how far the fund has progressed.
With regard to Tuesday’s accident, it is worrying that some officials have sought to cover up the Railway’s deficient safety structure by arguing that the double derailment was a rare case caused by flash floods. They point out that just about 10 minutes before Kamayani Express and Janata Express trains derailed while crossing a small bridge near the rain-swollen Machak River, another train had passed the same area without any problem. However, the flash flood that came soon after caused the track to sink into the rain-soaked ground. If this is indeed what happened, it still doesn’t explain why the Indian Railways doesn’t have safety protocols in place for extreme weather conditions; why the tracks were not blocked immediately after the flash flood; and finally, why the bridge was in such bad shape.