Indian Railways Safety Performance

Transcription

1 LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT PARLIAMENT LIBRARY AND REFERENCE, RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION SERVICE (LARRDIS) MEMBERS REFERENCE SERVICE FACT SHEET. No. 1 /FS/Ref./2014 For the use of Members of Parliament Not for Publication Indian Railways Safety Performance The reference material is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties, and is not for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the source of the information as it is based on the sources indicated at the end/in the text. This Service does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or veracity of the information or views contained in the note/collection.

2 Indian Railways Safety Performance INTRODUCTION Indian Railways is quite distinctive in character, really a microcosm of India. To make it a safe and reliable system is an enormous challenge. The Railways has the most intricate and involved inter-dependencies. Safety on the Railways is the end product of the cohesive fusion of its myriad parts. A single flaw in the 65,436 route Kms of track that criss-cross the country, a defect in over 9,956 locomotives, 57,256 coaches and 2.45 lakh wagons that haul about 23 million passengers and nearly 2.8 million tonnes of freight every day, an incorrect indication on one of the thousands of signals that dot the rail landscape, a mistake or an act of negligence by one of its staff directly associated with train running, even a rash act by one of the millions of road users who daily negotiate around odd level crossing gates spread across the system, an irresponsible act of carrying inflammable goods any one of these multiple possibilities has the potential to cause a major tragedy. Added to these are the acts of sabotage by misguided elements spanning the whole country. Thus utmost vigil in safety in operations and also security of the traveling public is accorded by the Railways 1. TRAIN ACCIDENTS The term accident envelopes a wide spectrum of occurrences with or without significant impact on the system. Consequential train accidents include mishaps with serious repercussion in terms of loss of human life or injury, damage to railway property or interruption to rail traffic in excess of laid down threshold levels and values. These consequential train accidents include collisions, derailments, fire in trains, road vehicles colliding with trains at level crossings, and certain specified types of miscellaneous train mishaps 2. Indian Railways accord highest priority in train operations. Consequential train accidents on Indian Railways have consistently declined from 141 in , 131 in 1 India, Ministry of Railways, Outcome and Performance Budget , p India, Ministry of Railways, Safety Performance , p. 40

3 , 121 in and further to 117 in registering a decline of 3.3% in comparison to the previous year. Another important index of safety, viz. accidents per Million Train Kilometers has come down from 0.14 during to 0.10 in despite quantum increase in the volume of traffic carried by Indian Railways. In the year also, it is expected to come down further. 3 Table 1: Train Accidents on Indian Railways since Year Colli- Sions Derailments Level crossing accidents Fire in trains Misc. Total Movement of traffic i.e., Train Kms. Run (in Million) Incidence of train accidents per Million train Kms India, Ministry of Railways, Outcome and Performance Budget , p. 44

4 -3- Year Colli- Sions Derailments Level crossing accidents Fire in trains Misc. Total Movement of traffic i.e., Train Kms. Run (in Million) Incidence of train accidents per Million train Kms (upto May 2014 Prov.) *Under compilation. Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability.

5 -4- Causes of Train Accidents Of the total of 117 train accidents that occurred on Indian Railways during , 105 (89.73 per cent) were due to human failure, including 50 (42.73 per cent) due to the failure of railway staff and 55 (47 per cent) due to the failure of other than railway staff, 3 (2.57 per cent) accidents due to failure of equipments, 4 (3.42 per cent) accidents were caused due to Sabotage, 4 (3.42 per cent) accidents were due to incidental factors and 1 (0.85 per cent) accident for which causes could not be established. The table below shows the broad causes of train accidents which occurred on Indian Railways since : Table 2: Broad Causes of Train Accidents Number of Accidents during Failure of Railway Staff Failure of Persons other than Railway Staff Rolling Stock Failure of Equipments Track Electrical/ S&T Sabotage Combination of factors Incidental Causes could not be established Under investigation Grand Total (62) (67) (53) (50) (51) (51) (44) (43.81) (42.37) (38.18) (39.72) (39.69) (37.18) (42.73) (upto May (39.39) 2014*) (45.45) 57 (40.43) 63 (48.10) 59 (48.76) 55 (47) 15 (45.46) (11.35) (4.58) (2.48) (3.42) (6.06) * Provisional Figures Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability. 3 4 (2.12) (2.83) 1 3 (0.76) (2.29) - 7 (5.79) - 4 (3.42) - 1 (3.03) (0.76) (0.83) (0.85) (3.03)

6 -5- Casualties The following table indicates the number of passengers killed and/or injured in train accidents. The figures exclude casualties sustained as a result of passengers' own negligence (e.g. footboard travelling, etc.) and casualties involved in case of sabotage. Table 3: Casualties Year Number of Passengers Total Casualties per million passengers carried Killed Injured * (upto May 2014) Prov * *Under compilation. Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability.

7 -6- Collisions and Derailments: The position regarding total number of collisions and derailments and those caused by the failure of railway staff is given below: Table 4: Collisions and Derailments Year Number of collisions and derailments No. of collisions and derailments attributed to failure of railway staff Percentage (upto May 2014) Provisional Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability.

8 -7- Derailments table below: There is considerable fall in derailments as revealed by the trends shown in the Table 5: Derailments Year Total Accidents Derailments Percentage (upto May 2014) Provisional Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability. Damage to Railway Property Details of the damage to railway property and interruption to communications caused by train accidents are given below:

9 -8- Table 7: Damage to Railway Property Year Cost of Damage (Rs. in lakhs) Interruption to through Rolling Stock Permanent Way communication (in hours) , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , * * * * under compilation Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability.

10 -9- Accident Compensation Payment of compensation is governed by the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Amendment Rules, Under these Rules, the amount of compensation payable in case of death is Rs. 4 lakhs. For injuries, the amount varies from Rs to Rs depending on the nature of injury sustained 4. The amount of compensation paid to the victims for deaths/injury in train accidents are given below: Table 8: Compensation paid by Year Compensation Paid (Rs. in lakhs) The amount of compensation paid during the year relates to the number of cases settled and payment made during that year and not the accidents that occurred during the year * under compilation Source: Compiled on information provided by M/o Railways as per availability. 4 Op.cit., Safety Performance, p. 44

11 -10- Accidents at Level Crossings At the beginning of the Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ), there were 13,530 unmanned level crossings. In last two years i.e and the current year, Indian Railways have eliminated 2420 unmanned level crossings at a total cost of Rs. 1,936 crores. Details of Zone-wise elimination of unmanned level crossings during the years , and (upto June 2014) are as under 5 : SN Zonal Railway (upto June 2014) 1 Central Railway Eastern Railway East Central Railway East Coast Railway Northern Railway North Central Railway North Eastern Railway Northeast Frontier Railway North Western Railway Southern Railway South Central Railway South Eastern Railway South East Central Railway South Western Railway Western Railway West Central Railway Total RAILWAY SECURITY There is a three-tier security mechanism of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway (GRP) and District Police over Indian Railways in which 5 Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No dated

12 -11- prevention and detection of crime in Railway premises and running trains are the responsibility of the States through their GRP. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) supplements the efforts of GRPs to ensure protection and security of railway property and passengers as well as matters connected with Railway Act, 1989, Railway Protection Force Act, 1957, and the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, Vision 2020 of the Indian Railways envisages that the Railway Protection Force would be strengthened/empowered and technology and HR interventions would be used to enhance capability. Installation of Integrated Security System (ISS) for round the clock surveillance over sensitive and vulnerable stations is already underway. Passenger security will get further impetus with setting up of All India Security Help Line 7. For speedy transmission of data, feedback and complaints, networking of Security Control Rooms and RPF Posts are also under progress under the RPF Security Management System (RSMS) and pilot project is successfully running from 187 locations. The Ministry of Railways has also moved a proposal for amendment in the RPF Act, 1957 for empowerment of the RPF to deal with passenger related offences 8. Measures initiated by the RPF for security of passengers and passenger area 9 Escorting of about 1,275 important Mail/Express trains daily, in addition to escorting of 2,200 important Mail/Express trains by the GRP personnel. Escorting of ladies compartments of suburban trains during night hours in coordination with GRP staff. Access control at important railway stations Keeping vigil at station platforms, yards and circulating areas against anti social elements and surveillance through CCTV cameras from control rooms 6 Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No 1178 dated India, Ministry of Railways, Annual Report , p Ibid 9 Op.cit., Annual Report, p. 114

13 -12- Prosecution of offenders for unauthorized vending/hawking, entry into ladies and reserved compartments, touting of tickets, trespassing, roof travelling, alarm chain pulling, etc. under relevant provisions of the Railway Act, CONCLUSION Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and all possible steps are undertaken on a continual basis to prevent accidents and to enhance safety. These include timely replacement of over-aged assets, adoption of suitable technologies for upgradation and maintenance of track, rolling stock, signalling and interlocking systems, safety drives, greater emphasis on training of officials and inspections at regular intervals to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices. Safety devices/systems that are being introduced to prevent accidents include provision of Block Proving Axle Counters (BPAC), Auxiliary Warning System (AWS), LED Signals, Vigilance Control Device (VCD), Anti Collision Device (ACD), Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) 10. The need of the hour is to start an urgent review of the safety aspects of the railways. The Indian rail network is the fourth-largest in the World and carries the largest number of commuters in the World daily. While protecting a km network is a Herculean task, particularly for the cash-starved Indian Railways, technology and all other means must be used to increase safety and security on the Rails 11. Safety is an ethos that should pervade all activities of railway operations and maintenance. This ethos has to be instilled and nurtured. It is not an attribute that is likely to be evident merely because rules are reiterated or instructions issued. The concern for safety has to be all pervasive in the functioning of the Indian Railways Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 491 dated The Asian Age, New Delhi, dated Corporate Safety Plan ( )

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