Sir — This refers to the report, “Rly staff feel wrath of Prabhu “ (August 21). A deadly combination of age-old infrastructure, outdated tracks, congestion and human negligence makes train travelling in the country vulnerable. One merely needs to look at the last 10 months to gauge the railways’ track record. According to a Parliamentary Standing Committee report, over 80 per cent of the 239 accidents reported between 2003 and 2015 occurred because of derailments.
Has Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, comprehensively failed to bring this form of public transport on the right trackIJ
For long. the railways has been a political playground for Ministers. The first thing that’s necessary is to have an approach of minimal interference to make sure that resources are not wasted in adding trains that harm track maintenance. The second thing to have is an audit of the manner in which assets are procured and maintained. Only then can there be an improvement of the current practices and operating procedures which will result in greater safety.