After Reading This Article You Can Solve This UPSC Mains Model Question
“Despite a decline in the overall number of railway accidents, serious mishaps continue to occur in India.” Examine the major causes of railway accidents and evaluate the effectiveness of recent government initiatives to improve railway safety. (GS-3 Infrastructure)
Introduction: The Current Landscape
Indian Railways, one of the world’s largest transport networks, carries millions daily, making railway safety not merely a technical concern but a core issue of public governance, institutional accountability and human security.
| Incident | Major Cause | Key Takeaway |
| Bilaspur | Human Error / SPAD | Need to fill vacancies & enforce aptitude tests. |
| Tatanagar Exp | Fire (Under Probe) | Success of Fire-Safety tech in modern coaches. |
| Jamui | Derailment (Under Probe) | Fragility of high-traffic trunk routes. |
| Hojai | External (Wildlife) | Conflict between infrastructure & ecology. |
Major Causes of Rail Accidents in India:
1. Human Error
Historically, human failure has been responsible for over 50-60% of all rail accidents in India.
- Loco Pilot Fatigue: Indian Railways faces a shortage of over 1.5 lakh safety-category staff. This leads to loco-pilots working 12–14 hour shifts, resulting in decreased alertness and Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD)—where a pilot misses a stop signal.
- Operational Negligence: Errors in “points-setting” (the mechanism that moves a train from one track to another) and faulty manual signaling are frequent causes. The 2023 Balasore tragedy was a prime example of signaling-circuit tampering/negligence.
- Maintenance Staff Errors: Inadequate training or lack of standardized operating procedures (SOPs) during track welding and circuit repairs often lead to “latent defects” that cause accidents later.
2. Infrastructure and Technical Failures
Technical failures are the primary reason for derailments, which account for nearly 70% of all accidents.
- Track Fractures: Sudden variations in temperature (extreme heat in summer or cold in winter) lead to the expansion and contraction of tracks, causing fractures. If not detected by Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD), these lead to derailments.
- Aging Assets: A CAG Report (2022/2023) highlighted that a significant portion of the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) was being diverted to non-safety works, leaving nearly 26% of derailments linked to “pending track renewals.”
- Rolling Stock Defects: Older ICF (Integral Coach Factory) coaches are prone to “piling up” (telescoping) during collisions. Although they are being replaced by LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches, thousands of older coaches are still in operation.
- Signaling Obsolescence: While Electronic Interlocking is being scaled, many remote sections still rely on mechanical or older electrical systems that are vulnerable to environmental damage (e.g., cable cutting or lightning).
3. Operational and Systemic Challenges
- Over-utilization of Tracks: Many trunk routes (like Delhi-Howrah) operate at 120% to 150% capacity. This creates a “maintenance crunch”—there are no available time slots (blocks) to take the tracks offline for essential repairs.
- The “Vande Bharat” vs. Maintenance Paradox: Experts argue that the push for high-speed premium trains puts immense pressure on existing tracks that were designed for lower speeds, accelerating wear and tear.
4. External Factors
- Encroachment and Trespassing: Unauthorized crossings by humans and cattle remain a major cause of “unnatural deaths” and emergency braking, which can occasionally lead to derailments.
- Sabotage: In recent years (2024-2025), there has been an increase in reported attempts of track tampering or placing obstructions (like iron rods or cement blocks) on tracks to cause accidents.
- Level Crossings: While 100% of unmanned Broad Gauge crossings are eliminated, manned crossings still witness accidents due to gate-crashing by road vehicles.
Strategic Government Initiatives:
A. Kavach (Automatic Train Protection – ATP)
Kavach is an indigenously developed SIL-4 (Safety Integrity Level) certified system. It prevents accidents by:
- Automatically applying brakes if the pilot fails to do so.
- Providing real-time updates on line-side signals inside the loco cabin.
- Triggering an “SOS” feature during emergencies.
- Current Status (2025): The rollout of Kavach 4.0 is being accelerated to cover the Golden Quadrilateral and High-Density Networks by 2026.
B. Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK)
Introduced in 2017 with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore over five years, it has been extended. It focuses on:
- Track renewal and bridge rehabilitation.
- Elimination of Level Crossings.
- Upgrading signaling technology.
C. Rolling Stock Upgrades
The transition from ICF to LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. LHB coaches are made of stainless steel, have higher speed potential, and are designed not to flip or telescope (pile up) during an accident.
D. Digital Interventions
- RTIS (Real-time Train Information System): Uses ISRO satellites to track train movement and speed.
- USFD (Ultrasonic Flaw Detection): Using machines rather than manual visual inspection to find internal cracks in rails.
Key Committee Recommendations:
A. Anil Kakodkar Committee (2012)
- Independent Safety Authority: Recommended a statutory body independent of the Railway Board to oversee safety.
- Advanced Signaling: Proposed a complete shift to European Train Control System (ETCS) Level-2 or equivalent (realized through Kavach).
- Structural Separation: Recommended separating the ‘research and safety’ wing from ‘operations.’
B. Bibek Debroy Committee (2015)
- Accounting Reforms: Called for a shift to commercial accounting to clearly identify where safety funds are being leaked.
- Human Resource Management: Suggested a unified railway service to break “departmentalism” (silos between mechanical, civil, and signaling wings) which often delays safety projects.
C. Sam Pitroda Committee (2012):
- Modernization of 19,000 km of Track: Suggested upgrading key trunk routes to handle heavier loads and higher speeds without compromising structural integrity.
- Real-time Monitoring: Recommended the use of RFID tags for rolling stock and GPS-based tracking to improve wagon management and prevent collisions.
Way Forward: The “Zero-Accident” Strategy:
1. Technological Acceleration: “The Kavach Shield”
- Universal Coverage: The primary goal must be the rapid scaling of Kavach 4.0. The government should incentivize more private players to become OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to break the supply-side monopoly and lower costs.
- AI-Based Predictive Maintenance: Transition from manual inspection to Machine Learning (ML) models that analyze data from Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) and track recording cars to predict rail fractures before they occur.
- Gajraj System: Expand the AI-based surveillance system to all forest-fringe tracks to prevent wildlife collisions, utilizing acoustic sensors and thermal cameras.
2. Structural and Institutional Reforms
- Independence of the CRS: As recommended by the Kakodkar Committee, the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) should be given full financial and administrative autonomy. It should function as a truly independent regulator, similar to the NTSB in the United States.
- Ending Departmentalism: Implement the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) effectively to break the “silos” between civil, electrical, and signaling departments. Safety must be a unified responsibility rather than a departmental one.
- Safety Audits: Mandatory third-party safety audits for high-traffic corridors and bridges older than 100 years.
3. Human Resource Optimization
- Filling Safety Vacancies: Expedite the recruitment for the 1.7 lakh vacant safety-category posts. Technology cannot replace the “boots on the ground” (trackmen and pointsmen).
- Pilot Welfare: Implement the “Duty Hours Reform” for loco-pilots, ensuring mandatory rest periods and better “Running Room” facilities to combat fatigue-induced errors (SPAD).
- Psychological Testing: Regular aptitude and stress-management testing for staff involved in signaling and train operations.
4. Infrastructure Resilience and Upgradation
- 100% LHB Transition: Completely phase out the production and use of ICF coaches. Every passenger train in India should ideally be an LHB or Vande Bharat (Train-set) model by 2030 to ensure “anti-climbing” safety.
- Fencing High-Speed Corridors: To achieve speeds of 160 kmph safely, corridors must be fenced to prevent cattle hits and trespassing—a major cause of emergency braking incidents.
5. Financial Discipline
- Ring-fencing RRSK Funds: Ensure that the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh is used strictly for “safety-critical” works (track renewal, signaling) rather than “amenity-driven” projects like station facade upgrades.
- Commercial Accounting: Adopt the Bibek Debroy recommendation of accrual-based accounting to identify the true cost of asset depreciation and maintenance.
Conclusion:
Railway safety is not merely a technical challenge but an economic and moral imperative. For India to reach a $5 trillion economy, its logistics backbone must be fail-safe. Integrating the “Kavach” shield with structural reforms suggested by the Kakodkar committee is the only way to ensure that the “Lifeline of the Nation” does not become a liability.
