Analysis: India's Rail Infrastructure On Life Support

Railway accidents have been in the headlines this year. In yet another signal failure accident, the Mysuru-Darbhanga Express rammed a stationary goods train at Kavarapettai in the Chennai Division of Southern Railway on October 11 night. More than two dozen people were injured. Two goods trains derailed in September -- one in Mathura, another in Jharkhand. The Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed following a collision with a goods train in Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on July 30. The Kanchanjunga Express travelling from Agartala to Sealdah in Kolkata on June 17 collided with a goods train near Rangapani, close to New Jalpaiguri, resulting in 11 deaths. According to reports, in just the first seven months of the year, there were 19 train derailments, resulting in loss of lives and infrastructure.

In the last five years, 351 people have died and 970 injured in 200 consequential railway accidents, per data of Indian Railways from its 17 railway zones. Both passenger and goods trains were involved in these accidents, raising issues about the state of rail infrastructure.

The incidents obstructed the movement of other trains in the impacted sections, forcing railways to delay or divert trains.

The Chennai train accident is similar to the 2023 Balasore train crash, in which three trains were involved. The Coromandel Express had similarly entered a loop line, struck a goods train and derailed, before another train, the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast, crashed into it. With 296 people dead and many injured, it was one of the deadliest train accidents in India's history.

Indian Railways is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, carrying lakhs of people and tonnes of goods daily. The accidents raise a big question on the mode of transport that crores of Indians rely on.

Outdated infra

Recent train derailments have occurred due to poor track maintenance, overcrowding, operational errors, outdated signalling systems, weather etc. Human errors like driver's exhaustion and carelessness, communication faults, and insufficient training have also emerged as key reasons for train accidents. Heavy rainfall, landslides, and floods also pose a threat to train safety.

The overcrowding and overloading of trains have exacerbated an already critical situation. Overcrowded trains place extra pressure on the tracks and rolling stock, making them more prone to accidents. Likewise, the overloading of goods trains beyond their capacity can lead to derailments due to the disproportionate weight and tension on the tracks.

"It is a total failure and non-adherence to strict standards of maintenance of rolling stocks, wagons and coaches by the railways," says a railway safety expert on condition of anonymity.

Setting priorities

To reduce accidents, Indian Railways has been developing and upgrading technology in signalling and telecommunication, with automatic signalling on 15,000 km of rail network and plans for the KAVACH - the domestically developed Train Collision Avoidance System - to cover 37,000 km of tracks. However, these are still work in progress. Both the Chennai train accident and the Kanchanjunga Express crash could have been averted by installing Kavach, which is supposed to achieve zero accidents by preventing speeding or signal failure.

According to experts, deploying Kavach in the existing railway networks without disrupting train movement makes the task particularly challenging. "Kavach can't save all collisions. Side track collisions can't be prevented by Kavach," a retired railways official says.

It is a matter of concern that despite the increase in railways revenue in the Budget, the rail bureaucracy hasn't been able to utilise funds aiming for zero accidents.

The railways revenue in 2022-23 was Rs 1.2 lakh crore, and the track renewal spending in that year was 13.5% of the revenue. In FY24 (Revised Estimates), the total railway revenue rose to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, but spending on track renewal dropped to 11% of the revenue. In the July budget, the railways revenue was planned at Rs 1.8 lakh crore in FY25 (Budget Estimates), and the track renewal spending was at 9.7% of this revenue.

"Capacity augmentation hasn't helped. It has saturated the existing network to breaking point. The maintenance window is even less, with Vande Bharat trains too running on the same track," said the former bureaucrat.

The Railways Board, which oversees rail services in India, runs the whole infrastructure. India's railway network is recognised as one of the largest in the world under a single management. 

"Accountability needs to be fixed at the highest level of railway bureaucracy. There is no railway safety regulator for day-to-day maintenance except the Commission of Railway Safety, whose role is limited to holding accident inquiries," says a rail safety expert.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's constant refrain that the figure of 171 accidents per year has come down to 40 accidents in 10 years is hardly reassuring to passengers worried about their safety.

Crores is being spent in replacing or repairing outdated railroads, getting new trains, and tackling thousands of unattended railroad crossings. However, there is much more work to be done.